Origin Story: Part 2 - Unlocking the Truth
by ReaperOfLostSouls
Summary: Found by her grandfather, Viola is given a choice to choose between two evils: live a life of happiness and bliss, living in fear for what is to come, or live a life of pain and angst, knowing that her questions will be answered? Her father, her mother, her family. What have they been keeping from her this entire time? Murder, violence, and swearing. Mentions of abuse. M to be safe
1. Prologue: The Hope

**A/N: YEP! I'm starting this story with another prologue. This is to wrap everything up from the first part, and delve into the mind of Giovanni, a bit more.**

 **This story stems from #50 Family, of my current 100 Challenge**

 **If you guys haven't read the Part 1 to this Origin Story then read the first part before coming here. I guess you COULD start reading this story without understanding the first part, but parts in the story will only be confusing and complicated, otherwise.**

 **I'll let you guys know that I plan on jumping between Giovanni and Viola's own points of view, but I won't be putting 'Giovanni POV', for example. I know some people do that, and I've tried to do that myself, probably, I think that takes away from the experience of reading a story. Sure, some stories a reader stays with one POV during the entire story, but others one jumps from one POV to the next all the time, without warning. But I'm just telling you guys, just in case you get a bit confused. And this flipflop of POV may also occur between paragraphs, also. Just forewarning you. That's' just the style of writing I've been doing, these days, and it's a lot easier then sticking to one person's point of view for the entire story.**

 **Anyways, THANK YOU for returning to this OC pokemon story, and I hope you guys ENJOY the prologue.**

! #$%^&*()

A tired, grumpy old mobster sat in a passenger seat on his exclusive private jet, his eyes gazing out the window lazily. His persian had wandered off somewhere, probably searching for food, while he noticed a honchkrow was constantly staring at him, or rather glaring at him, from across the airplane. Ever since he encountered that honchkrow it continued to look at him as if he was going to do some sort of harm, which was reasonable, but it was starting to get on his nerves.

However, he was reminded why he was putting up with all of this mayhem and stress as a tiny little figure shifted on his lap, followed by a huffy little yawn.

A content smile appeared on his face as his hand laid upon the girl's head, his hand absentmindedly running through her short locks of dyed brown hair, though he vaguely noticed her roots were starting to grow back upon her head.

Black mixed with purple… He sighed at the thought as he continued to glance out the window with a tired look upon his face.

He wasn't allowing himself to sleep until the problems were solved, but then again, he wasn't the young man he used to be, and he couldn't stay awake like this. Yet… sensing this tiny little child beside him, dependent on his decisions, kept him awake.

It's been so long since he's had this chance to take care of a child. The first time, the responsibility was thrust upon him, but he gladly took on the task, if it meant distancing himself from his mother's work. Yet now… he didn't have that luxury with the child. **This** child. His granddaughter, a child he barely even knows.

How can he take care of her? Will he end up making the same mistakes as before?

A gruffy sigh left his breath at the mere thought of messing up once again. He recalls his own childhood. How he lived in relative luxury, but his mother was never around. He still doesn't know who his father is, nor does he care anymore. If she visited, she would bring by gifts, but there was never any real love. He was just another task for her to complete, an inconvenience.

It was that way for him and his brother, until they were much, much older. Then shit hit the fan and…

Did he fulfill his promises? His older brother was his world, if he's going to be honest with himself, and they told each other they would stay together, even if it meant going against their mother's wishes. But after everything… would that man even be proud of him?

Giovanni still wonders that, to this day.

It's not like he had a child for the sake of his brother, but as his brother once said, 'If you're going to do something, any task, see it through to the end, no matter the cost.' So, against his mother's own wishes, he married a girl, had a child, and even after her death, he continued to be a family man. A father.

Until… he let his happiness get to his head and lost his only true treasure.

He lost his son, more than once. He doesn't want to lose his granddaughter as well.

He had to admit though, his son did make him proud. Stubbornness runs in the family, but somehow they both reconciled their differences, for the sake of this child.

He agreed to stay out of his grandchildren's lives… unless they both died, under _mysterious~_ circumstances.

The circumstances of his son and daughter-in-law's deaths weren't mysterious at all. In fact, he has a fairly good idea what happened. He always found some sort of way to keep an eye on his son and the family, no matter what, and the stuff his son did… He still cannot believe it, but considering the boy's life, should he really be surprised?

To subjugate himself to the whims of the council for that small glimpse of peace amongst a boring, mundane people. Yes, at some point, he wanted such a life as well, but reality eventually kicks in. Your happiness, no matter how miniscule, is always ripped away, and there's nothing that can be done about it.

He already knew that the council is a bunch of tyrants. No one truly knows about them, the public not realizing such a group exists, but who keeps order in the Pokemon League? Who controls the gym leaders and the elite four? Gym leaders… only foot soldiers to the whims of the council. Sure, every League has some sort of Council, no matter how small or large they are, but as far as the public knows, such a thing doesn't exist. The elite four is seen as the figure heads, but he knows the truth.

He just cannot believe his son would substitute his pride for the sake of security.

Why must his family have such a hard time? He can only assume it hadn't been this way. What did his mother do to curse her descendants this way? Okay, sure, she's a criminal mastermind, so is he, but his son tried to break that cycle… but failed.

There is no way he could send this child out into the world. Everyone and anyone is out to get her, without realizing it.

Everyone always needs to find fault in someone, and those faults fall upon his shoulders. If things go wrong, it's his fault. Even if others say that's not true, he knows the truth they're not saying. Humans don't realize just how easily they can be read like a book… like pokemon, but at least pokemon are very straight forward to their needs and desires. It's humans that attempt to hide the truth, even if it's futile.

Watching this girl interact with one of his grunts so cheery was an honestly strange, but comforting sight. So there **is** hope… but how long will that last?

She was bright and cheery, like her mother, but can act stern and serious and moody, like her father. She had a lot of excess energy, he could tell, and seemed like the mischievous type as well. Always thinking, always calculating. Always judging her surroundings.

But the girl had also fallen into a very dark and dangerous pit. The family curse, as everyone seems to put it. At some point, reality sets in, usually from someone's death, and the child becomes cold, dark, and judgmental. They shut themselves off and only think about surviving. So many enemies, and not enough allies.

Will this child be fine in the end?

He honestly doesn't have an answer for that. It's too soon to tell, but… living with other criminals gives one a criminal mindset. Heck, the child already seems to have one, so what'll happen to her as she stays with him? Turn into a monster, like him, or perhaps look past that to grow better as a person?

At least… this time, the child was kidnapped by some person who wants to just use her for her strange abilities, or her lineage, or just has some assumption that she can be of use to them. He's still fairly bitter about that Masked fool that took his son from him. If only he realized who it was before… he would have killed him with his own bare hands.

He won't fail again. He won't allow it. Failure isn't an option.

He was snapped out of his thoughts as he heard a soft mewing coming from his feet. He noticed that gray furred eevee his granddaughter owns staring up at him, a curious, yet oddly knowing look on his face.

The man couldn't stop himself from smirking, as if he was reading the pokemon's mind, as he reached down to pick the small discolored eevee up, only to set him beside his true owner, sleeping soundly upon his lap. The eevee gave him a curious glance before closing his eyes, slumbering soundly beside the girl as the two of them shared a comforting nap.

His granddaughter truly is something, isn't she? Befriending random pokemon, even having a shiny type at her disposal, without exerting tremendous effort to obtain it.

Should he be proud? Would he end up using this to his advantage?

… No. He suppose he won't.

After all, even **he** has those abilities to easily persuade pokemon, to get them on his side without having to capture them or even beg, but that doesn't mean he uses it. For the girl, it's as natural as breathing. For him, he hasn't tapped into those powers of his for a long while. At least not consciously.

Plus, it's more of a challenge anyways, and if he's going to sell pokemon all the time what's the point of befriending them?

Pokemon are tools, always have been, always will be. Humans are too, if he can manipulate them in the same way he can easily do with a pokemon.

Just… he knows, deep down, the girl doesn't think that way, and honestly, he'd rather keep that mindset with the child. The thoughts that pokemon are friends, not tools. The acceptable mindset of the rest of the world. Accepted, but necessarily utilized.

He can only hope that this girl ends up as a better version of himself, at the very least, but for now he has to protect her, always. No matter what. She's his responsibility, and he must take all appropriate actions to ensure her own safety and security, as well as her happiness.

If there's no hope for him, at least he can put his faith in the next generation.

If only he had time… but his time is becoming ever shorter, and if he's going to be useful, he might as well get started now, rather than thinking he has time to do it later.


	2. CH01: Roket Beginnings

**A/N: Thank you guys for continuing to read my story! I'm enjoying writing it, and I know characters like Giovanni and the executives and stuff are a bit OOC, but I am trying to write them in the way I would see their characters reacting in various situations. For example, some people see Giovanni as the nastiest guy in the world cause he's the Boss of Team Rocket, but I mean, if he hasn't gotten rid of Jessie, James, and Meowth in the anime for failing all the time or didn't off right kill the main protagonist character in the games just for losing all the time, there has to be something behind that. Right? Everyone's human. He's human. So there you go.**

 **But I'll also say that this story is coming, mainly, from the point of view of our seven year old protagonist, Viola. I try my best to write in the way a seven year old would be, but then again I am trying to tell a story here, and sometimes I wish I made her just a tad bit older. I know I kind of write her older then she should be, but I think I've stirred enough conflict when it comes to her development as a character. Some characters, some OCs rather, that I've written may undergo some changes, but I will warn you guys that throughout the chapters, sometimes I jump the timeline a bit. Sometimes it's a few days, other times it's reaching a few months. I don't outright SAY how much time has passed because, well, I don't want to be stuck in saying 'four months ago' and then realize I need to age up my characters. I'd rather leave it up in the air, and then once I reach that point, I can finally make Viola one year older, but not right now.**

 **Anyways, the story in general revolves around living at a Team Rocket secret base, in the middle of nowhere. I've realized, after reaching the chapters I'm writing at the moment, that this 2 parter story may end up being 3 parts instead. I feel bad about making it that long, after saying I was going to cut it down, but I'm getting close to reaching 20+ chapters and, from personal experience, I'd like to keep my story chapters below, at least, 50. A solid 50 chapters. Maybe 40, but I want to end this story around 30+, maybe less.**

 **So… yeah. There** _ **is**_ **a story on this site that has reached almost 100 chapters… or it is. I don't know, but I discontinued it and it's VERY old. Maybe even a decade old now? But I know what happens to me if I write WAY too much and cannot figure out where I was going with the story. For me, the 'parts' and the chapters help me keep organized with where I'm going in the story. Where I want the story to go in the later chapters. I've learned from my past mistakes, and the ways I write have been developed over the years because of the way I attempt to organize information in my mind. So, in case I DO NOT post a chapter for a while, and suddenly I do for one reason or another, it's not like I'm repeating myself or making up random stuff, and forgetting the story I was creating. I HAVE been thinking of how to write this Viola character of mine for months now. Maybe years? But at least months. Teams in pokemon have always fascinated me, since I was a little kid playing pokemon on the playground, but I hope this is an enjoyable story for you guys.**

 **I believe I repeat myself a bit in the story, but I am trying to build up some sort of relationship between Giovanni and Viola. As I've said, I may proofread my chapters, but I try not to change the entire chapter after it's written down, unless I REALLY am repeating myself. But I try. This isn't some book that's going to be published or anything. This is my creative writing for my own sense of sanity.**

 **And lastly, I just put up a** _ **POST**_ **on my profile page. I haven't decided what sort of story I'll do after this one, so I'd like to ask you guys. What sort of story should I begin to write after this OC story? Maybe a Team Skull one? An Alolan nuzlocke story? Or maybe continue with Viola's story with a 'Training Daze'-style story? Or maybe a different story entirely? I don't know, so I'll leave it up to you guys.**

 **And I know this A/N is getting a little long, so let me wrap it up. THANK YOU GUYS so much for reading through this story, and I'd like to** personally thank PhoenixLord27 for favoriting and following this story **. Now that I have this story up and running, and now that I'm back to writing and posting again, I'd like to try to thank my readers more often. As you guys favorite and follow the story, I'll try to add you guys and thank you ^^.**

 **But that's about it! ENJOY the chapter! And I'll try to post more chapters later. We'll see.**

! #$%^&*()

"The child is still asleep," the persian decided to say, his head up against the girl's chest as he listened to her heartbeat, before turning his attention to her head and feeling the soft, content breath that left her nose and lips as she continued to stay perfectly asleep.

"Yes, but that does not matter now," the tall stoic man responded as he sat in a vehicle, his hand still upon the girl's head as the world passed them by. However, his thoughts were interrupted as he felt movement underneath his hand, his head looking down to see the girl shift on his knee, before her eyes began to open and blink in confusion.

You flinched as you were face to face with glowing red eyes, staring right into your very soul as if the feline was studying you intently, analyzing you with his gaze. You quickly turned your head away, unable to stop the loud yawn that left your breath, realizing this was the first time you truly felt rested, since… yeah. Since then.

Realizing your position, you quickly sat up, your head looking around in utter confusion until your eyes fell upon your amused grandfather. "A-ah… sorry."

"Sorry for what, child?" he decided to ask, unable to stop the coy smirk on his face while you blushed a bit harder and quickly turned your head away, rubbing your sore and dry eyes.

"I-I mean… I'm sorry for falling asleep on you. I didn't mean to."

"It was fine," he told you, watching out of the corner of his eyes as your eevee walked up to your feet, his head gently nudging your dangling foot, and your eyes snapped downward to notice him.

A content smile appeared on your face as you noticed Spirit, inwardly glad that he wasn't taken away from you, and relieved that he seemed to be oddly calm, despite being next to a complete stranger. "Hey," you mumbled, picking up your eevee and placing him upon your lap, your cheek unconsciously nuzzling against his soft fur while your arms wrapped around him as you coddled him like a stuffed fluffy doll. "… Where are we?" you had to ask, and you heard the man sigh simply in response.

"We're almost to one of Team Rocket's main bases. I don't stay in one location for too long, but this base is the one I've been living in for the past few months."

"O-oh… Okay," you decided to say, realizing you were no longer on a plane, but in another car, but this car didn't have blacked out windows. Instead, it seemed to be large truck, with the two of you in the back seat, with your pokemon, while the driver was up front, but with a window in the way, like always, so he couldn't overhear the conversation going on in the back. You felt a bit disoriented, but your body felt happily refreshed. You could only conclude that it's because you actually got a full night's rest, for once, or perhaps… you finally got to relax because you felt safe, for once.

It's been a long while since you felt safe like this, but you cannot help but wonder if you can truly call this place home. Like father would say from time to time, home is where your heart is. It doesn't matter if it's an actual destination or a group of people, but you're at home… you feel safe, and secure, and happy.

Can you really be happy with this man? You have no idea, but… for the first time in a long while, you have hope. Hope that your days won't be as lousy and dreary as they have been.

It didn't take the vehicle long to reach the top secret Rocket base, hidden at the bottom of a canyon, probably very far from civilization. There were only two easy entrances into the building, it would seem, and the only wildlife you would probably be able to spot around the facility would be rock and ground types. Even so, wild pokemon tend to shy away from manmade structures, until the humans disappear, and by the time the truck reached a gate you weren't surprised to see practically nothing. You noticed that, yes, you could climb up the rocks or climb down, but it would take a lot of exerted effort, and right now, you didn't want to relive your father's untimely death.

You decided to send your pokemon back into their pokeballs, even though you honestly didn't want to, but while Don could hold his own, you didn't want to risk a damn thing. However, you were still very, very nervous, and you watched the hot looking outside world disappear as the truck entered an underground parking structure, finally coming to a complete stop right beside a doorway. Silently, you left the vehicle, your mind still groggy with fatigue and too tired to care about too many worries. You grabbed your backpack, jumping out of the door when it was held open, and you stepped away onto a concrete walkway as you looked over, waiting for your grandfather to step outside.

With your precious belongings on your back, your hand tightly gripping the strap of your bag, you watched as, first, the persian jumped out of the car, casually and confidently walking over and sitting down beside you, while your grandfather took his time, and began to give various orders to the men and women that had shown up out of nowhere. Bags and boxes began to be unloaded from the vehicle, but with a push of his hand, your grandfather ushered you to follow him as the two of you walked through a set of sliding doors. You couldn't stop yourself as a relieved sigh left your breath when the hot, damp air was replaced with cooled, air conditioning.

"Ah. Sir," a feminine voice spoke, and while the woman glanced at you for a mere second, she quickly turned back to your grumbling looking grandfather. "We have taken care of the **problems**."

"Good. I'll deal with the traitors later, but first I want you to bring up lunch for two to my personal quarters."

"Yes sir," the woman explained, and your grandfather quickly pushed you down the hallway, making your way to an elevator, and the woman pressed the button for the both of you.

You silently stood beside your grandfather, taking everything in, as the two of you stepped into the elevator, along with the persian, and your grandfather pressed a particular button. You watched with a curious gaze as a bunch of extra buttons with numbers appeared, and he pressed '2-3-6-0' on the panel, before the elevator began to move upward. "… Where are we going?" you decided to ask, the question lingering on your lips the moment you woke up.

He could only let out a tired sigh under your question, letting his frustrations simmer for just a moment, but only for a moment. You could tell he was tense about **something**. "I'm personally bringing you to the penthouse suite. That'll be where we'll both be living, for a while. My persian will keep you company," he stated, pausing for a moment as the two exchanged looks, a stern look coming from the man's glaring gaze while the feline looked irritated that he was being given a silent order, before your grandfather turned his attention back to you. "It may take some time, but I'll have someone show up to keep you company. However, I'm going to have lunch first, and we'll save the tour of the facility for tomorrow."

"Oh… O-okay –"

"I know this is a lot to take in, Viola, but please bear with me… and until I come back in the afternoon I don't want you to give away your name, alright? I haven't decided how we're going to introduce you, quite yet," he explained, and you meekly smiled in his general direction, but it was a forced smile. He could tell. "… Don't worry about anything, okay child? My persian knows everyone, and if anyone is a threat he'll be aware of it. So, you can send out your pokemon if you wish. I have some pokefood stashed away, I believe. I'll show you around the apartment."

"Okay," you answered, a tad more confidently then before, but you were still nervous.

Always with the secrets, it would seem. Something is going on that has your grandfather on edge, and if you come to a drastic conclusion, it's because of various spies that have infiltrated Team Rocket. Who are they? You doubt your grandfather would even show you them, but… are you scared?

Not exactly. Not as frightened as you used to be. For the first time in a long while, you trust him. You trust an adult to know what they're doing, even if, deep down, you know humans make mistakes and can always end up betraying you. Yet, not only does this man know much more then you, but he's very… familiar. He's family, and when it comes to family you don't have to heart to ignore them.

No matter what.

)(*&^%$# !

When you saw your grandfather calmly digging into his supper, you began to quickly dig into your own food. You didn't realize how hungry you were until you tasted the food upon your lips. It was delicious! You haven't had a meal like this since your mum was alive. The food you've come to eat these days is either junk food, anything you can scrounge and pick up as you moved along, or whenever your daddy would cook food over an open fire.

You didn't realize you were scarfing down your food in such a vicious way until you heard a cough, your grandfather giving you a curious raised eyebrow from across the table, while your mouth was slightly open, and your full spoon was almost in your mouth. "Don't you have any manners, child?"

"I, ah… do," you chuckled nervously, placing the food into your mouth, gulping quickly, before carefully placing your spoon down onto your plate and slowly straightening up your back. "I just… this is good."

"I expect the best from my cooks," he told you with a smirk, noticing the bright blush that was now on your face as you nervously stared down at your plate, which was already half empty, and his eyes watched as you calmly grabbed the cloth napkin, placing it upon your lap in a casual manner. "… In fact, I expect the best from everyone who works for me."

"I see," you responded, slowly going back to eating the food that was on your plate, though you could tell the man was holding back his laughter as he saw how careful you were about eating, now. The two of you stayed quiet for a while, enjoying a hot meal for the first time in days, or for you, in weeks, or even months, until you had to look over at your grandfather and decide to say something that was on your mind. "So…" you began, making sure you got his attention as you continued somberly, "what… is your plan? I mean… I get that I'm a kid and stuff, but with daddy gone and I'm here, and with bugs and worms infiltrating the team, what's your course of action?"

"You want to know?" he asked you in a calm, yet stern tone of voice, and you quickly nodded your head, sitting up in your chair as he looked down at his food, at the cup by his hand, before looking you directly in the eyes and giving you a serious look.

"Spies and such always infiltrate the team. It's unsurprising, seeing as Team Rocket has spread to a global scale and we're an underground, criminal organization. There are files on practically everyone, and more classified files on their personal history. I make sure a lot of information and research is recorded in our systems, in one way or another. I bet you most members, even within our ranks, know how extensive the process truly is –"

"I-I heard from a friend of mine that you personally see each and every person, even before they get officially trained. Is that true?" you decided to ask, and he smirked at your question and gave you a slight nod of his head.

"These days, it's quite difficult, but I always make an effort to see every grunt and every agent that pass through the ranks. Even if they are in another region, recruited and have been approved by one of the executives, or a Rocket of equal top ranking. If I'm in the area, I certainly make the effort to talk to that particular grunt, even if it's only one or two individuals… I have a knack for seeing through lies," he honestly told you, giving you a smirk as he brought his cup to his lips, sipped his beverage, before setting his cup down and going back to eating his food at a steady pace. "I don't know how much you are aware, but I was born in Viridian Forest, and –"

"Auntie Yellow told me my grandfather has the same gifts of the forest as her and I. That's why… I really wanted to meet you, before, but then dad told me you weren't alive so… I wondered what it'd be like to meet that mysterious grandfather of mine," you honestly told him, your eyes staring down at your food as your fork mindlessly poked at your vegetables. You knew deep down you'd have to eat them, but right now you were holding off on eating those green string beans until you had consumed more appetizing items on your plate.

"I see… I'm sorry that –"

"I get it, pretending that you are dead and all. Just… it still hurts," you told him, but you looked up at him and gave him a meek, light smile. "So, you can see through lies? Can you heal pokemon like Auntie Yellow?"

"Every special little child born in the Viridian Forest all receive the same sort of skills. However, each child develops those skills in their own special ways. That girl is a great healer and a fairly good communicator to pokemon. Without even thinking, she can talk to them with ease. However, reading them just by looking at them is difficult for her. I, on the other hand, can simply look at an individual and know if they are lying or not, long before they start to speak. Same with pokemon, but most are very truthful creatures. They know exactly what they want, even if their actions only get in the way," he huffed, his gaze falling upon his persian as he ate from his bowl full of prime pokefood, until the feline sitting upright and giving the man a devious smirk. Meanwhile, your eevee gave the two of them a curious look before continuing to chow down on his own food, and the man snorted and turned his attention back to you. "Healing drains me even quicker then Yellow, and she's quite a strong woman already. Plus, I personally have to concentrate, just a tad, to talk to pokemon, but the more familiar a pokemon is, the easier communicating with them becomes.

"There are many other skillsets we both share, but I have a feeling you can figure them out on your own," he smirked at you, causing you to lightly smile back as you looked down at your food and slowly began to eat more from your plate. "… Back to your precious question," he continued, his eyes staring down at his plate as if he knew you wouldn't like his words, but decided to tell you, regardless, "within the last few hours, we have rounded up the suspects that are probably here due to a current rival criminal organization. They aren't as large as Team Rocket, but," he huffed at the thought, "their group is organized by a madman who wants to take over Team Rocket. Actually, I believe he wants to dismantle it, and then use the scattered members and bring them into his own group. I just distaste him," you heard your grandfather snort, before turning his attention to you and giving you a light smile.

"Who knows if we have to deal with that group anymore, but regardless, there are spies from all sorts of groups. Some are criminals from other gangs, and others are thugs that want to escape the gang they had previously been tied to, or maybe they are still part of the group and won't be honest about that. Then there are the coppers who have tried time and time again to infiltrate the organization. With those spies, well… I try to be a bit more delicate about what they see and discover," he told you, his eyes looking back to his food and he began to eat from his plate some more.

"I learned from watching my mother that there will always be those that betray you. That it's better to keep your friends close, but your enemies closer. If you know one's enemies, then you can use what you have to combat them, from the shadows or directly… So… that is why there is so much work to be done.

"As for your father," he continued, this time a bit more calmly as he let a thoughtful look appear on his face, "I was already running an investigation on the disappearance of the boy. Before you told me your story, I already had some grunts keeping an eye on the two of you. However, you had completely evaded them from time to time, which I find rather surprising," he told you, though he let a smirk appear on his lips as he continued, "and when the boy didn't report to those, apparent, superiors of his, I already begun investigations on his disappearance. Of course, I kept all of this quiet. Only my four executives and their most trusted agents know about your father's death… and that you were off on your own, somewhere."

"Oh… w-well –"

"If you're any Roket, then you could _easily~_ evade even **my** agents. What surprised me was that you popped up on a cargo ship, filled with Rockets, making their way to Kanto."

"Well, you see –"

"Lt. Surge filled me in on the details," he explained, casually, though you gave him an unsure look as he continued calmly. "If he hadn't told you that I was even alive and that I would be seeing you, then you would have made a run for it, for sure. I'm honestly glad to hear that you know how to take care of yourself, Viola," he smiled to you, and you could tell he had a proud gleam in his eyes, but before you could respond back he sighed, slumping back in his chair and staring at his empty cup with a tired look on his face. "The agents traced back you and your father's steps to the route you disappeared on. So far, no body has been found, and in a matter of weeks your father's pokemon had disappeared from the pokemon center as well. All that was gathered was one police report about a child stating her father was killed by a group of thugs… that report was a bit on the nose, wasn't it Viola?"

"W-well… I just wanted to make sure people out there knew my father was dead. That's all," you decided to say, and he smiled meekly in response before letting another tired sigh leave his breath.

"Anyways… our leads are coming to a dead end. Not even the police seem to have any leads, or they do not care, but I care. So I've done everything I can to find the boy, but so far… there isn't much to go on. But, you're alive, and now you're here and safe. If your father shows up then we'll reunite the two of you, and if not…"

"… I have already come to terms with his death," you honestly told the man, your eyes looking over at him in a slight glare, "but… I fear that someone is still after me. T-that guy, with the glowing green eyes and harsh stare… H-he was after blood, and I still don't know why."

"I honestly doubt he wants to kill you," your grandfather told you, but you gave him a pout.

"Oh? Why would you assume that? –"

"Your parents did everything they could to keep you safe. If the man was after you in particular, then your parents were casualties. Most people don't want to kill you, child, but rather take you… and use you for whatever schemes they're cooking up."

"W-why?" you had to ask, your eyes feeling a bit watery at the idea that others want to use you, and that you are a reason why your parents are now dead. "W-why do people want me so badly? I-I'm just a kid. I'm not very important."

" **Because** you are a kid, you can be useful. A child is still developing. Still has time to grow, to learn, to adapt, to change their way of thinking. Our enemies would rather have you under their control then have you stand against them. Some, yes, decide that it's best to either have you theirs, or dead, and others would rather bide their time and strike when the time is right… that's how your father left, child. For that evil mindset, because of their greed. They want power and strength, and they're envious that our family holds gifts that others simply do not have. Can never obtain –"

"W-what gifts? Why am I that important? Heck, why was daddy that important?" you pouted, the man giving you a meek smile and shaking his head at your questions.

"It… isn't just the fact that we have the gifts of the Viridian Forest, because we were born there. It's a tradition of ours to have our children, at least our first born, in Viridian, but that's not the sole reason. Our family has a very… dark past. One filled with bloodshed and pain. We may have many children, but that doesn't mean they reach adulthood… Being a Roket is more of a curse then a gift.

"It's because… in each generation, our blood passes a particular curse to one child, and then onto the next generation. Do you know what aura is?"

"K-kind of –"

"Our blood naturally has a higher concentrate of aura, I suppose that's the best way of saying it. However, no matter how many children are born, there's at least one who has the highest concentrate of energy. Energy like… how pokemon each have their own set of skills and attacks, their own sort of types. We humans can categorize ourselves into typings, but our own genes can cause us to be pokemon-like. To use pokemon moves and powers that ordinary humans are not capable of doing, without exerting a lot of effort.

"That's why the gifts of the Viridian Forest tend to latch onto our family's children. That's why people try to kidnap our children, even if there are multiple children. It's because we have a natural power that can be utilized.

"But… for the record, I don't plan on ever using you for such a thing, child. I know the pains of being used because of the gifts I hold, and I don't want you to have to deal with those hardships. If you don't want to tap into those gifts, those curses, then I will not stop you, but if you do… I'll certainly be there, to support you, but I won't be happy about it."

"Why not?" you decided to ask, and he could only sigh underneath his breath.

"It's the same reason why your father probably didn't talk to you about our family curse. About the dark life we all must lead. Because… he'd rather have you living a happy life, one without fears and suffering, and that's not a life you'll find here in Team Rocket. Just… I'd rather you be yourself then become something others want you to be… unless you're a pain. Then we'll have a problem," he smirked at you, causing you to smile crudely and reach for your cup of water, taking a much needed sip as he sighed lightly to himself. "Sorry about all this technicality. Not even my executives really know about this, and I want to keep it that way."

"I understand… i-in a way. I'm still confused, but I kind of get it," you honestly told him, and he smiled lightly and nodded his head at your response, going back to finishing the food on his plate. "… Grandfather?"

"Hmm?" he responded in a curious tone as you gave him a meek, yet sad smile.

"If… if you do find daddy's body, will we have a service for him? A-and can he be buried beside mum?" you had to ask, and he gave you a sad smile in return.

"Of course, child. Even if we cannot find him, we can hold a memorial service, if you'd like."

"I-I'd like that… for closure," you decided to tell him, the man raising a curious eyebrow at you before smiling to himself and continuing to eat his meal.

"You're a smart girl, Viola," he told you as the two of you finished your meals in silence, and you both listened to the quiet chatter of the three pokemon, with Don finding a roosting spot in a corner of the kitchen's cabinets, and Spirit and the persian chattered about the two of you, it seemed to you. At least, that seems to be where their quiet conversation is currently about.


	3. CH02: Undiscovered Past

**A/N: Hey guys. I've been a bit busy lately, so that's why I haven't posted a chapter for a while. I was actually going to post this sooner, but then my life got busy and stressful, and I wasn't in the mood to look over the chapters I've been working on. Right now, I'm trying to get my life back together and find something new and interesting to do. That's kind of my New Year's resolution. We'll see if my resolution gets me anywhere.**

 **But anyways, here's the next chapter! I'll be honest though, I haven't been completely motivated to keep writing the story. Why? Well, I stay motivated by reading other fanfics, and now I'm just rereading pokemon fanfics I had previously liked. There aren't a lot of Team Rocket stories out there. Not ones with Giovanni, I mean, and even with Jessie and James there doesn't seem to be a lot of those out there right now, either. I think it'd be nice to see a 'Team Rainbow Rocket' or 'Rainbow Rocket' choice for the character groups, but even so there doesn't seem to be a lot of people writing about Team Rocket. Or Team Plasma. I was kind of into reading those stories as well. But… whatever. I'll try to stay motivated, and on track with this story.**

Thank you PhoenixLord27 & NoxNightKing for following, and PhoenixLord27 for favoriting this story **, and THANK YOU to everyone who is reading this story. I hope you guys ENJOY!**

! #$%^&*()

The calm atmosphere that surrounded the large apartment space was quickly interrupted by the sound of a doorbell. You looked over at the only door that led out of the apartment with a confused stare, but your grandfather calmly stood to his feet, sighing underneath his breath as he made his way over to a control panel placed against the wall beside the door, pressing a sequence of buttons before the door slid open.

Your eyes watched widely as a woman walked through the door, the door sliding swiftly behind her. She was tall, though not quite as tall as your grandfather, but was very… curvy. But what truly caught your attention was the long bright red, hot hairs upon her head, which was oddly similar to… but your father's hair was a darker shade of red, compared to the woman who had stepped into the space, her bright red, harsh eyes now staring over to notice you. "The kid, is she? –"

"Yes. Viola, come over here," you heard your grandfather instruct you, and you quickly jumped off of the couch you were relaxing in, rushing to his side to give him an unsure look. "Child, this is Ariana, one of my executives. She will be in charge of watching you for the rest of the day –"

"What?! –"

"I need **someone** to watch the girl," Giovanni responded back, in a calm, yet stern tone of voice, though even you could tell he was holding back his own anger. "Someone may try to come after her, or worse. Besides, I trust you to keep an eye on the child, Ariana."

"Well… if it means I can raid your pantry then fine," she huffed, her arms crossing over her chest as she glared at the man, and your grandfather gave her a satisfied smirk before looking back down at you.

"I will only be gone for a few hours. My persian will stay here and keep you company."

"Oh crap," you heard the woman grumble underneath your breath, but you could tell your grandfather was making an effort to ignore the woman as he continued to look down at you.

"Behave for Ariana, and if you have any questions I suggest asking her."

"Oh… 'kay," you answered, glancing up at the woman with an unsure look before turning to glare up at your grandfather, "be back before dark."

"Should I?" he smirked at your sudden sternness and you let out a huff.

"Yes. Be back before nightfall. You didn't sleep the entire time we had to travel here, and you need sleep."

"You're not my mother, child –"

"Well, if you're going to keep me trapped here like a prisoner then at the very least come back for dinner," you stated promptly, and you heard the woman let out a stifled snort, her hand upon her mouth as she tried to hold back her laughter.

Your grandfather snorted in response to her giggling, but he sighed and gave you a light smile in return, trying to act pleasant. "I'll be back in time for dinner. At the latest, eight o'clock. Now, Ariana, I entrust you with the child."

"I get it, Gio. Just finish what Archer and Proton started," she huffed, waving off the man with her hand as the man rolled his eyes at the woman. Still, your eyes watched the two adults interacting as he gave you a content smile, before turning his back and opening the sliding metal door, walking out of the room and leaving you alone with this woman.

Once Giovanni left Ariana let out a slight snort, crossing her arms over her chest while she noticed two new little pokemon roaming the Boss' penthouse suite: a strong looking honchkrow giving her the evil eye from atop the kitchen counters, and a uniquely colored eevee, a shiny coat she believes, sitting upon the couch in the living room, now leaning over the armrest, giving her an unsure look from across the room.

"So… you're Silver's kid, eh?" she decided to say with a huff, her legs suddenly crouching down as she saw eye to eye with you, your eyes widening with a nervous gaze as she put her hand upon her chin and looked you over. "From the pictures… you look more like your mother, I would say, but you have uniquely colored silver eyes."

"T-they're blue," you stated simply, but she smirked at your words and let a snort leave her breath.

"No hun. Those are gray eyes, with blue highlights. I believe people call those eyes electric blue? Or crystal blue, but either way, silver eyes are a rare trait," she smirked slyly, slowly standing to her feet and letting a sigh leave her breath as she backtracked towards the door. She slipped off her boots and placed them upon the wood, before stepping back up onto the carpeting and making her way into the kitchen.

You gave her an unsure gaze before sighing slightly to yourself. You lazily walked back to the couch you had been occupying and sat back down, letting Spirit jump up onto your lap and slump his head down, as the two of you stared off at the far walls while this 'Ariana' woman went about raiding your grandfather's cabinets for food. You don't know how long you sat there in silence, contemplating your life choices as you stared into blank space, but you were interrupted by a purr by your leg, only to notice the persian jumping up onto the couch, giving you a curious look, before letting his head sink down to slump upon your unoccupied knee. A meek smile appeared on your face as you plopped one of your hands upon the feline's head, running your fingers through his warm and neatly combed fur, and scratching into his head, causing him to purr happily in delight.

"… You're good with pokemon," you heard her point out, and you huffed in response as she rolled her eyes, sinking down into a nearby chair and plopping down the food in her hands onto the coffee table by her feet. "… I feel sorry for you, kid. Losing your folks the way you did –"

"Just how much do you know?" you sighed deeply, speaking in a sarcastic tone of voice, but she could easily see through your tired tone of voice and sense the sadness laced with the irritation, but she smirked in reply, turning her attention to the food she had snatched up from the kitchen.

"Enough. Well… even mob bosses have someone to talk to, to bounce ideas off of. While I used to see Giovanni as a prick, and still do, I guess, he went into a very lengthy conversation about his suspicions of a coo happening right underneath his nose, starting with his secretary. Of course, I told him to wait and see if she makes some sort of move, and now here we are," she shrugged, your eyes glancing over at her for a moment before you sighed once more, lifting up your left leg slightly to look down at your leg and noticing that there was still a throbbing pain there, but the pain has dulled in your mind as was barely noticeable, it would seem. "… So, questions," she huffed as she munched on some chips. "Have any?"

"I guess…" you began, an unsure look on your face before you glanced over at her and gave her an oh too familiar glaring look on your face. "I want to know… did you know my grandmother?"

"Silver's mom? Sadly no. The story is rather lengthy," she explained, and you were expecting her to stop right then and there, but after slurping from a juice bottle in a glass container she sighed deeply at her thoughts. Her eyes were now directed towards the tv across the room from your current position, as she continued with a calculating look on her face. "It took us executives by surprise, I must say. See, as long as I've known the guy, Gio always acted like some underground mob boss, before he even took on the role. He had his own little group of thugs running amuck Viridian City, and I guess during that time he had a fling with one of the girls there. Like any young guy with power, he would abuse it and spend a lot of his personal time going out to nightclubs, socializing, and… other things," she coughed slightly into her hand, trying hard not to huff to herself as she continued calmly.

"At the time, us executives weren't executives. Proton, he wasn't even associated with Team Rocket yet, and Petrel was working under Madame Boss. Archer and I were… together, for a time… and through the grapevine, Archer told me about this girl Gio had knocked up. Was a redhead, from Blackthorn City, who was there to take on the Indigo Plateau challenge. Had all eight badges from Johto, and was in Viridian to pass the time, waiting for the tournament. Unluckily for her, she got knocked up, but didn't even tell the guy until she was back home in Blackthorn.

"Your grandfather traveled to the city, but didn't return to Kanto for a very long time. Your great grandmother, Madame Boss we all called her, eventually sent out a search party to track down that son of hers and bring him back home. At the very least, she wanted answers. Archer was a part of Team Rocket at the time, and I wanted nothing to do with it, but he gave me all of the juicy details, after Giovanni popped back up, and I was done taking shit from my own family. Apparently, the girl gave birth to a boy, but she died shortly after the birth. Since then, your grandfather was trying his best to raise the boy, but had idea how to take care of a baby.

"Well, I guess Madame Boss **does** have some sort of kind heart, because instead of making her son start some life in the team and throw out his newborn son to the woods, she let Gio start some new life with his new son in some obscure town, somewhere. Where? No one knows, but it was until after I had just joined the team that Giovanni came back into the picture.

"His son had been kidnapped, he stated, and was using all of Team Rocket's resources to track him down, using up so much manpower that his own mother stepped in and refused to help him anymore. Not until he accepted being her one and only heir and stop acting like a child. So… he agreed, as long as there were eyes out there still trying to track down that lost son of his. I didn't encounter Silver again until he was almost eleven. Considering I never met his mother, I personally don't know if he's a spitting image of her or not, but Archer exclaims that he looks more like his mother then his father. A slimmer build, with red hair and silver eyes. Named silver after his eyes, is the assumption, but no. Your grandfather named the boy silver because of Mt. Silver, or so he says… Any other questions?" she sighed to herself, realizing she may have said too much, but couldn't go back on everything she has spoken now.

You sat there in a bit of a daze, astounded that someone around here was fully answering a rather mediocre question. You blinked a few times, reorienting yourself after the bombardment of names and events that you honestly had no idea about, but decided to ask a question that you've been wondering about for quite some time now.

"Do you know… why my grandfather didn't make any contact to my family until I was on my own? Does he despise his son or something?"

"… No," she decided to say, with a bit of thought before deciding to elaborate on her statement. "Those two never truly… hated each other. What Silver hated was the team, and maybe he hated the fact that the team took all of Giovanni's attention, but I don't think even that boy hated his father. Perhaps he didn't like the way the man became, but certainly didn't hate him. There was animosity, though. Honestly, I could care less what it was," she shrugged, but noticing your unamused look she calmly continued, "but it was Silver that kept away from the man, and I suppose Gio just accepted that."

"I see…" you had to respond, but Ariana sighed and set her drink down upon a nearby stand.

"It was your mother that made those two stubborn men reunite again. I believe they hadn't seen each other for… what? Two decades? Well, before your mother was even pregnant with you, but had married your father, she insisted on meeting the man, after realizing that he was still alive. I came with him that day, when we arrived in Azalea Town," she smirked at the thought, crossing her arms over her chest as her gaze fell upon a nearby wall. "I didn't realize Silver grew up so quickly. He wasn't a skinny little shrimp anymore, but a sturdy looking man. Your mother was beautiful as well. Danae, she told us her name is, but she goes by Dana.

"She invited everyone, including the driver and the guards to come in for lunch, and I can remember the annoyed look on Giovanni's face when he tried to refuse, but she blatantly insisted. Your father developed a nice laugh. Something I hadn't heard from him in a very long time, if ever," the woman smirked at the memory before reaching for her drink and taking another sip. "… Lunch was quiet, but then came the questioning. Those three sat down at the dining room table to talk, and while I heard the first half of the conversation, I was told to stand outside during the last half. Whatever happened during that time put a smile on the man's face, a genuine grin I haven't seen on Gio's face for a very long time. Probably before his mother's death. Before his son's kidnapping.

"The questions were quite simple and mundane, like, what do you like? Favorites foods, favorite colors, and such. Then… she asked some more personal questions, like, what is being a Rosso all about? How is the family like? But eventually, she got to a question Giovanni didn't want to say, in front of me, but seemed willing to answer.

"Why is your family full of liars?

"When I heard the little woman say that, I thought she was a brave girl," Ariana chuckled at the thought, an amused look upon her face at the faint memory. "And her tone of voice, geeze! If anyone else talked to the Boss that way they would have been beaten up, or worse. I could tell Gio wanted to shout, to yell, to grab her and threaten her, but then, he had a look on his face that seemed almost serene, and then he roughly ordered me to leave the building, and waited until the front door was promptly closed to talk. Or so I assumed… Your mother had a lot of balls, I'd personally say. Even though I can be a bit chatty and physical at times, I would never outright call the Boss a liar."

"… Liar, eh?" you decided to respond, her gaze falling onto you in a thoughtful manner as you seemed to be analyzing the information the woman thoughtfully gave you. "… I get it."

"Do you? –"

"According to dad, his life started the moment he met my mother. How? I-I don't know, but… mum always told me to either be honest with someone, or don't say anything at all. Most of the bickering my parents would have was because my father wasn't being very honest with my mum. But eventually, they'd send me off to play in the woods and to come back by dinnertime, and by the time I got home they would have settled down from whatever bickering they had only a few hours prior… My dad was an impulsive liar. He wasn't very honest, unless he had to be, with this stupid idea that he was protecting my mum and me, by not telling us the truth.

"I-I guess… a kid who is barely grown shouldn't know some things, but… my mum wasn't very happy about being lied to all the time. In fact, she once shouted that he wasn't protecting anyone by keeping the truth from us. After all, if something were to happen, how would we know it's… coming…" you froze, your thoughts momentarily freezing you as you recalled those last few weeks with your mother, and how, after a heated conversation with your father, your aunt appeared out of nowhere, and your father vanished for… whatever reason. How nervous your mother acted during those last few weeks, even if she was in the company of family. How… she… feared for her own life.

"… I think," you suddenly began to say as you broke out of your thoughts and turned your attention to the woman, giving her a sideways glare as you continued in a stern tone of voice, "I would rather know the truth and have some unnecessary anxiety, then live a life in naïve bliss until the worst of the worst comes knocking at my door and threatens to kill me. I'd rather know what can potentially happen and prepare myself, then have regrets," you finished with a light sigh, closing your eyes and letting a deepened pout appear on your face as you thought back to a moment in time that made you so happy, but had been brutally ripped away from you, without a moment's hesitation.

You could vaguely hear the woman snort in annoyance, but as you reopened your eyes to glance at her, this time your gaze calmer, but numb to the touch, she continued in her irritated tone of voice, "Well… anyways, your parents probably came to some sort of agreement with Giovanni when it came to you, but he always had people spying the house from afar, in case something were to happen. Just… I guess I will tell you," she continued, realizing that you'd probably get as angry as the Boss if you didn't get the full amount of information, "that the night your… mother died, our men were killed off as well. In other words, it was a planned attack, and wanted to physically hurt Gio as well as your father. Whoever attacked your house knew that Rocket grunts were in the area… It was an exhausting night," Ariana couldn't help but huff at the thought, but you smiled meekly and turned away, looking off towards a wall that contained a painted picture, next to a fairly large bookshelf.

"… Thank you for telling me that," you decided to say, and you felt the persian's head lift off of your lap slightly, as if he were curious to why you thanked the woman in the first place.

)(*&^%$# !

"If you need anything, you know how to call me. I know Giovanni is running late, but he should be back. He's not a man to normally go back on his word."

"Thank you Ariana," you responded with a light smile, Spirit and the persian standing beside you as you showed the woman to the door.

"Think nothing of it, child. Have a good night," she grinned, quickly leaving through the sliding door so she could have some sleep, and the moment the door slid closed you couldn't help but let out a deep, tired sigh.

It was already seven, and while your grandfather said he'd be back by eight, you had a feeling he wouldn't be. Adults always lie, but since dinner hadn't arrived yet, you can only assume you have to wait for that man to show up before you can have anything to eat.

But then again, this gives you the perfect opportunity to go exploring. Your grandfather only briefly showed you around the fairly large apartment, which to you was just as big as a simple one story house. But, what made it completely different compared to a regular house was that it was high up in the building, and that there were no windows. The only way out of the penthouse was through the sliding door, but apparently there's some secret trap door that can open up in your grandfather's room, a door that he hasn't shown you, quite yet. Unless one knows about the basic designs of Team Rocket bases, and is also aware of secret routes throughout the building, they wouldn't know that there is a trap door there, and even so, it can only be opened from your grandfather's room, not from the other side.

Regardless, the apartment space had the feeling of living in an Italian-styled house. It was strange, to you, because you're used to living in Kanto or Johto-styled homes. The only thing that was similar was the wooden space at the door, where you can take off your shoes and put on slippers or walk around barefoot, but other then that the apartment was in a style that feels familiar, but you've certainly never lived in such a place for too long, if you ever did.

When you first walk into the apartment, there is a narrow walled pathway that leads you to a carpeted living room, to the right, and to the left is a wooden floored dining room set up. The kitchen was separated from the dining room and living room by white marble counters, complete with a refrigerator, oven and stove, microwave, and a coffee machine. There seemed to be other appliances too, but they were placed in the lower cupboards, not frequently in use.

To the right, through the living room, and against the right wall, there was a narrow hallway that led to four rooms. The first room to the right was your grandfather's personal office room, and to the left was an elegant bathroom with a tub on one side, and a shower on the other, with the toilet next to the showers. At the end of the hallway, to your left, was your grandfather's master bedroom, and to the right was a guest room, or rather, your new bedroom… for the time being.

It was at this point, since you were bored and didn't want to slump on the couch, that you made your way down the narrow hallway, walking into the open door of your bedroom, and staring at the vast size. It was much bigger compared to your old room, but felt… void of life. As if no one has occupied the space for a very long time. Your bag had been left by the door, but that's the only thing that belonged to you.

The room was decorated in various shades of blues, and green. You had this feeling the room was created for a boy, but then again, you aren't into pinks anyways, so the soft, cool colors were a nice comfort. The room, while windowless, did feel homey. The carpeting was a soft blue, the walls and ceiling a slightly darker shade of blue and green, and along the walls were various landscape paintings of places around the world. However, as you stared up at the paintings, you realized they weren't as far away as you suspected. One painting was Mt. Silver, the label at the bottom of the frame telling you so, which was placed directly across the bed on the other side of the room. Its snowcapped mountain range contrasted a beautiful dawn sky. On another wall was Viridian Forest, causing a content smile to appear on your face when you saw the painting. It must be a spot out in the middle of nowhere, a meadow void of pokemon. And then, the last painting in the room was of the Ruins of Alph. While you've known of the ruins, you've never actually been there, yourself. It looked like a bunch of rocks, with strange hieroglyphs along the walls. You have no idea what those words said, but you were curious to figure it out.

Looking around the room, there was a closet by the door, a fairly large closet, you noticed, with a small bookshelf fill of books, a dresser, a vanity dresser with a mirror sitting on top, and a desk with a rolling leather chair set up against the desk. The desk was bare, without any electronics or even a stationary, but it did have a little lamp, currently turned off, connected to an outlet next to the desk. The bedsheets were various shades of blue, creating an interesting web-like pattern, but your feet caused you to walk over to the bookshelf, your eyes inspecting the books set up on the wooden shelves.

The books were children's books, which made you pout. Sure, you're a kid, but except for some technical school books on the bottom shelf, probably outdated, they didn't really hold your interests. None of them seemed very fun to read… though maybe one or two, now that you're having a closer look.

But regardless, you lost interest in your gazing as you made your way back to your bag, deciding that, once and for all, you're going to unpack your belongings… for now. Who knows when you'll have to repack again, but for now you might as well assume you're going to be staying here for a while.

Compared to the space in the room, your items were almost nonexistent. You stashed your precious jewelry in the bottom drawer of the desk, your clean clothes in the dresser. You threw your dirty clothes in a small pile by the door, and eventually tossed your bag by a nightstand, which had a small alarm clock and a lamp by the head of the bed. You noticed the persian sniffing at your belongings, while Spirit managed to jump up onto the bed and curled up into a ball, giving you a curious look as you took out a small notebook and a pen.

You slowly opened up the notebook. The last time you managed to write something inside was when you were on Surge's ship, bored out of your skull, a night or two before you snuck away from the boat and made your way inland. But still, you tend not to write too much in this notebook, but you recall the moment you were given the book.

Your father bought it for you one day, when you were fascinated with the dark brown leather and umbreon design on the back, and an espeon on the front. It was one of those days you were in town, buying supplies, and you smirked as you looked at the first words you ever put into this notebook. But, over time, you've written more and more. Instead of a sentence or two, you'd write a paragraph, soon an entire page, and then two. These days, you use this notebook like a journal, writing everything you've learned down so you can look back on your notes, in case you forget.

You're always prone to forgetting very important details.

So, you wrote down everything Ariana told you about your grandfather, your father, and your mother. To try to figure out who this 'Madame Boss' was, how Team Rocket originated, and to try to learn more about your grandfather. To… explore the base a bit more, and try to map everything out, both, in your head and in the book. This book… if it were to fall into the wrong hands you know you'd get into serious trouble, but you needed to write your thoughts somewhere, as a way to filter out all the anger and regrets you've begun to accumulate over the years. If your mother and father were alive, what would they think of the situation? You doubt your father would be happy with this, and your mother would just be grateful that you found some family to stay with. Family was always important to her, no matter how far away they are.

You wonder… maybe you have other relatives you don't know about? Just how… horrible is Team Rocket?

You know the rumors. You're not that stupid, but… there seems to be some oddly kind people for an evil organization, or are you just playing naïve? Refusing to see the truth?

What is the truth?

Slowly you closed your notebook, frowning momentarily as you placed the book upon your bed and sighed to yourself, slumping onto the ground and leaning your head against the rather fluffy and tall bed. "… I'm still clueless, aren't I?"

"Entirely clueless," your eevee mumbled in response causing you to huff and close your eyes, feeling fatigue drifting over your eyelids, and eventually causing you to fall into a deep slumber.


	4. CH03: Small Similarities

**A/N: HEY GUYS! So, I decided to review another chapter and post it, since I haven't posted anything for this story in a while. As I said in the last chapter, my life has been a mess lately and I'm trying to put the pieces back together. Nothing serious, though. I'm just tired of the same mundane routines and need to experience something more engaging. Shake up my routine a bit. So, well, if I'm on hiatus for a bit that's only because I'm searching for a new job/trying to start a career and trying to do all of that fun stuff. Yeah… fun… whoopie. Plus, it's tax season and I'm trying to gather all of my forms and shit, plus I'm taking time to update my resume. I'm only doing posting this chapter at this very moment because I need a break from all of that.**

 **Let's just say I'm tired of my life right now, and I need to find something either more fun or just new in my life. I may like routines, but I'm just… tired. Tired of the same and mundane routines I currently have.**

 **I just miss being in school. At least in school I could always look forward to my classes and learning something new. That's not really the case, anymore, unless you count stuff like youtube and whatever.**

 **Anyways, just so you guys know for the overall story, I was just going to have the characters stay in one spot, but then I got bored of Viola exploring a building all the time. My story eventually hit a standstill, so in the chapters I'm recently writing, I change the location, again. Just to shake the story up a bit. Plus, with the new location, I have a lot more creative ideas to go with, and depending on how it's all written will determine the information Viola discovers. There is a lot of loose ends that are begun in this first half of this part that need to be wrapped up, so I may just end up doing a part 3 to this Origin Story. We'll see. I just don't want to be writing 50+ chapters into this parter. I'll end up becoming disoriented and probably lose interest.**

 **Or not. We'll see. It's not like I wrote an outline for this story or anything. It's all in my head, which means I can change it whenever I want to. There's just particular things/events I want/need to show, and everything else is just for the fun of writing it in or because I was in the mood, at that moment. I'll confess, I wrote this chapter about a month and a half ago, in December. That's how far I'm behind in reviewing these chapters and posting them. But, hey, at least there's a lot of chapters waiting to be posted ^^.**

 **Anyways, to end this long ass A/N, firstly I started posting an Alpha Sapphire Wonderlocke story on my wattpad account: [ story/136644366-ghastly-turquoise-alpha-sapphire-wonderlocke-story]. It's just a side story I'm working on so I'm not pigeonholed into just writing this story. You guys are free to read it and tell me what you think about it. I probably won't post it on this account until much later, but yeah. Just so you guys know. ENJOY this chapter! And THANK YOU for reading my story so far!**

! #$%^&*()

As Giovanni stepped out of a room he looked down at his wrist watch; a grumble leaving his breath as he began to walk down the hallway. The day had been an utter mess, and tomorrow won't be any easier. So much blood was now on his hands, and if it wasn't directly, then indirectly. Apologies had to be made, and those that have 'disappeared' need to be entirely disposed of.

But he had this feeling that if he appeared in front of his granddaughter covered in blood, she wouldn't be very happy with him.

So, he stopped in a bathroom, quickly washing the blood off of his hands and running a wet handkerchief over his bloody face. He thought about taking off his suit coat as well, but quickly decided against it, noticing the splotches of caked blood on his white shirt. Instead, he buttoned up his coat, hoping it would be enough to hide the evidence, and calmly made his way to his suite.

"Viola. Are you here?" he called as he stepped into the apartment space, noticing most of the lights were on, though a couple were turned off, and he cautiously narrowed his eyes, noticing the silence surrounding the space. "… Viola?... Persian?..." He snarled underneath his breath, reaching for a handgun hidden in an inner suit pocket, and as he sensed movement he aimed the gun at a space in the living room, only to quickly lower the weapon. "When I ask if you are here, tell me."

" _Sorry~_ … And you shouldn't be aiming your gun around here. You could accidently kill the kid," the persian snorted, sitting his rear down onto the carpet as he began to groom the back of his hand. His ears twitched slightly as he heard his human companion sigh deeply underneath his breath, as he began to sit down by the door so he could take off his shoes. "… Long day?"

"You could say that. Had to clean up everyone's mess –"

"The kid didn't have dinner tonight. Waited for you. Passed out in her room," the persian stated simply, letting a yawn leave his breath as he stood back up onto his four legs and began to walk over to the blood soaked human. "… You should clean that blood off, you think?"

"That's the plan," he groaned, rising to his feet the moment he kicked off his shoes, only to glance down at the feline and glare at him. "Where is Ariana?"

"Left, by about eight. Said she wouldn't wait all night for you to show up… So, can we eat?" the persian asked, but Giovanni only rolled his eyes and scoffed, making his way into his bedroom, to throw off his coat, before stepping into the bathroom to rinse off his face and hands. He rubbed until his skin became red and raw, and figured it was enough as he walked back into his bedroom, slipping on a comfortable pair of pants and shirt, before making his way to the bedroom across the hallway from his own.

He noticed his persian was waking up the eevee that had been sleeping upon the girl's lap, his granddaughter sprawled out on the floor, her arms under her head as she slept peacefully. He couldn't help but smirk at the sight, but, realizing the time, he knew he messed up.

"Viola… Viola, child," he spoke, kneeling down and gently shaking the girl's shoulder, "wake up. Time for dinner."

"Hmm?..." she grumbled, blinking a few times before rubbing her sore eyes, glancing upward to notice her grandfather looking down at her, before she put two and two together and looked over at the alarm clock by your bed. "… It's nine."

"Sorry child. I was late –"

"You have blood on you," he heard the girl say, a frown adorning his face as she slowly sat up and sighed deeply to herself. "… I thought you're the boss guy," she continued, causing the man to give her a curious look. "You have to do the dirty work too?"

"Ah… yes, at times," he chuckled lightly, standing up to his feet and shoving a hand into his pocket. "Come on. Let's have some dinner. I'll have the cooks bring us something hot and fresh –"

"We have a microwave. We can reheat the food. Daddy taught me how," he heard the girl say, and while he would normally say no, seeing the tired look on her face, but the smile that was adorning her features, made him smirk in response.

"Alright… if that's what you want, but if you burn the food I'm having the cooks bring us something," he smirked down at the child, ushering her out of her bedroom, and noticing out of the corner of his eyes the persian and eevee following behind them, and his son's honchkrow sat atop a bookshelf, looming down at them before nuzzling back into the peaceful slumber the dark-type had preciously been enjoying. "… I'm sorry about being late. I gave you my word, but I broke it."

"You didn't break it," the girl exclaimed as she reached for the plates of food on the kitchen counter, only for the adult to snatch up the plates and place them in the microwave, giving her a smirk while she huffed in response. "But… you killed people, huh?"

"Ah, yes," he chuckled nervously, wondering to himself not only was this conversation not suitable for a child, but she seemed strangely calm about the entire thing. "They were the… traitors. I have to set an example. If anyone else here is even thinking about attempting to dismantle or take over the team, then this is a good deterrence."

"… In those gangsta movies the mob bosses keep their hands clean. You don't?"

Giovanni couldn't help but glance down at the child curiously, wondering why in the world she'd watch those sorts of movies, and her father would allow this? "The real life is different from the movies. The media glorifies or diminishes what we teams are all about. Us… criminals. It's strange for me to see kids watching these thriller/crime movies and saying they want to be just like them. If I could, I'd give anything to not have to be the Boss of Team Rocket," he stated, but noticing the girl's confused look on her face, he smirked, patting the girl upon the head and making his way to a cabinet, snatching up a couple of cups and pouring some tap water into the cups. "… No matter what you do, you constantly have to look over your shoulder. Even if you try to be one of the good guys, you're never truly safe. It's a curse our family has… Even if you and your father had no affiliation with Team Rocket, our enemies… those that are bitter with the team, will still see you as a Rocket member.

"I'm sorry it has to be that way. Criminal or not, you're linked to this team, even if you don't want to be. If I could, I'd break all ties with this team, but… I'm in too deep now. There's no turning back," he decided to tell you, glancing down at his hand for a moment, closing his eyes and gripping his hand into a fist tightly as he recalled everything he had to do, especially today, before turning to the girl and giving her a light smile. "Drink some water. You're probably thirsty, right?"

"Ah… r-right," she responded, accepting the cup of water that was offered to her and watching as the older man took a mere sip, before making his way to the lower cabinets and grabbing three bowls. Noticing the persian getting excited, she smiled happily, walking over to the persian and scratching the feline behind his ears, where he liked to be scratched, causing the feline to purr contently as the man smirked at the girl in response.

"You have a way with pokemon, don't you?" he decided to say, patting the small eevee on top of the head before he stood back up and began to pour water into one of the three bowls.

"Yes, well… I lived by Ilex Forest so… it was like a playground for us kids that lived in Azalea. Union Cave was dangerous, and we were told to stay away, and the Slowpoke Well could only be accessible for half of the year. I spent a lot of time in the forest," the girl smiled lightly, turning her attention to the eevee that jumped into her arms, and she giggled, happily picking him up as she looked up at the older man, "but I got Spirit from Viridian Forest."

"Oh?" he exclaimed with a smirk as she quickly nodded her head.

"Mum and I were visiting Auntie Yellow, you see. I-I found a bunch of eggs, but I didn't take any of them. Just watched from a distance. Auntie Yellow says I shouldn't disturb the wildlife because it's their home," she told him, the man giving the girl a curious look as she continued excitedly. "But when they did hatch, the mama wasn't happy with the furry gray coat her child had, and she kicked him out of the den. I came over and took the baby eevee, and Auntie Yellow helped me clean him up and showed me how to take care of him. Mum wasn't very happy when she came back in the afternoon, b-but she let me keep Spirit! And I don't think I'd be the same without him," the girl finished, nuzzling her cheek against the top of the eevee's head, and the man smirked at the content smile upon the eevee's face as he nuzzled back, the two of them happily enjoying each other's company before she set the eevee down and wandered back to his side.

She looked at the microwave, expectantly, before he shook his head and grinned, opening up a particular cabinet, which held a bunch of pokefood, and he quickly poured the pellets into the two bowls before shoving the bag away, closing the cabinet door, before turning his attention back to the little girl by his side. "It's good to have a friend, even during the worst of times… I find it funny that your eevee is from Viridian, though," he chuckled underneath his breath, the girl staring at the man curiously at he continued with a content grin on his face. "Same forest I caught my first pokemon," he stated, gesturing to the persian who was currently chowing down on the food in front of him, while your eevee took his time in eating the food from the other bowl, "and also the forest I played in as a child. My mother never liked that I'd vanish for hours, though."

"You played in a forest too?" the girl couldn't help but ask, and he grinned at her enthusiastic tone of voice.

"Of course. I grew up close to Viridian City, meaning I was a resident of the city. I lived in the forest, though. Before… my mother messed up, and the police were onto us. We couldn't live in the public sphere anymore… but I did learn a lot more about being a part of Team Rocket. Just… my mother didn't give me a choice in the matter. Not really," he sighed underneath his breath at the memory, but the girl smiled lightly in response and nudged his leg, getting his attention.

"We all lose things. That's okay, as long as we're alive and have family, right?"

"I suppose so," he chuckled at the girl's reasoning, turning his attention to the microwave and hoping he didn't accidently burn the leftover food… again. "… How about we have our dinner, kiddo?"

"O-okay," the girl exclaimed, reaching out for the food that was brought of the microwave, but he ushered the girl to drawers that had utensils. They went about setting up their meal in the dining room while their pokemon had almost already finished their meal, and the honchkrow was just waking up to notice that food was being served for the night.

)(*&^%$# !

Like usual, you were up before the sunrise, sighing to yourself as your restless sleep kept you from dreaming. At least you didn't have to dream about your mother or father, but the questions you've begun to formulate has sent your mind in a tail spin. Plus…

Today, now that the team's… problems have settled down, you are to formally accompany your grandfather today. You personally doubt he will give you some sort of tour of the facility, but at the very least, he wants to introduce you to a bunch of people.

At least you know Ariana… at least…

But you're very, very nervous.

Killers, murderers, and thieves. You know that the criminal life isn't a glamourous one, but to learn that you come from a family branded as killers and mobsters is… unsettling. Even so, you hope your nervousness isn't shining through too much. Back then, in Goldenrod, to you it was all a game. Now… after having to be on the run with your father for so long, you know this is serious.

At any moment, someone could come by and get rid of you, or worse. Someone you'll care about will die, for no reason except revenge or simply to kill, and you will be powerless.

You can tell, just by looking at your grandfather, that he doesn't want to tell you anything. So, it's up to you to find the secrets that have been buried for so long. The truth hurts. You know that, but… then again, why shouldn't you have the truth? If you don't have the truth then… then… how can you live in a world full of lies and deception?

But for today, you needed to act like, well, a child. A shy girl, you suppose, who listens and doesn't speak her mind. That way **they** will do all the talking… simple questions, so they don't realize that you're egging them on to tell you the truth.

Adults truly can be naïve at times.

But then again, you are curious. Just what does your grandfather do anyways? You get it. It's not like the movies or the tv shows. This is real life, but… it's obvious that he's trying to hide himself. You could smell blood on him last night, and you have no doubt that he killed some people. Just… is he remorseful?

First Rickie, and now the grandfather you thought was dead can kill someone without much thought. Could… you become that way?

Do you **want** to become that way?

Either you kill… or don't kill… There is no in between. Just… when the time ever comes, could you pull the trigger? Stab? Watch the life leave someone's body? You're not sure… but…

You can tell that the team means something to your grandfather. Now you're curious to find out what that particular something is.

After using the facilities, you slipped on an outfit that seemed to fit you, left by your grandfather. He told you that, later, he'll have more clothes bought for you, but for now the outfit will do… you suppose. It's just not really your style, so you made some adjustments.

You slipped on the black dress pants, using the belt provided, but put on your big, clunky black boots and warm socks, since the air-conditioned building was always so cold. You put on the white collared shirt, leaving it untucked, and you slipped on your black jacket, making sure it smelled decent before doing so. It wasn't your traveling jacket with a hood, but a black jean jacket with a couple of playful buttons on the breast pocket, and a couple of hidden pockets where you can… hide things. You doubt you can get away with a hood over your face, so you might as well be comfortable. Normally you would wear gloves, but you decided to leave your gloves in your room. After all, it's not like it would matter if you snatched something underneath their noses or not.

"Don, you coming?" you asked the honchkrow that was currently perched on top of your only bookshelf in the room, and he shook his head, nuzzling into the makeshift nest you made for him with a blanket, and you chuckled as you turned to your eevee, who was waiting for you on top of your unmade bed. "Shall we go, Spirit?"

"Sure thing," he agreed, and you nodded in response as you shrunk both Don's pokeball and Spirit's into their tiny forms before shoving them into your pockets, and making your way out into the living room, Spirit calmly following behind you.

You were surprised to notice that your grandfather was already up, for you thought you were the only one that wakes up so early, and he glanced from his newspaper for a moment before going back to sipping his coffee. You couldn't help but give him a nervous look. "A-ah… Y-you're up."

"You thought I wouldn't be? I heard you showering, so I decided to wait," he told you, and you smiled nervously as you made your way to him, noticing his persian was lying on the ground, by his owner's foot, yawning to himself while you turned your attention back to your grandfather. "You need to tuck in your shirt."

"B-but –"

"Tuck in the shirt, Viola, and I'll accept that pitiful excuse of a jacket," he stated, causing you to huff in response and tug at your jacket.

"It's a very good jacket, I'll have you know! It's my favorite one to wear, as long as I'm not trying to sneak around," you snorted, reaching for a chair as you jumped up onto the seat, giving him a curious look as he continued to read his paper. "So… a-are we waiting for something or what?"

"It's not even seven yet. I try to give everyone till eight to be ready… You wake up early too?"

"Always made daddy mad, and mum would just let me roam around until breakfast time," you stated happily, causing the man to chuckle underneath his breath.

"I see… An early bird, like your grandfather."

"More like an insomniac," you shrugged, causing the man to give you a curious look before gently putting his paper down, only to sip more of his strong brewed coffee. "… S-so –"

"Sometimes I have my breakfast here, but today, I figured we'd go to the cafeteria for our breakfast today. Seeing as you're awake already," he decided to tell you, causing you to nod quickly at the thought of food. "… Plus, there aren't that many grunts and agents up this early, so we will more or less be undisturbed."

"Oh… O-okay –"

"And child."

"Yeah? –"

"If you want anyone to take you seriously around here, don't hesitate. Don't stutter. Speak with confidence, alright?"

"Ah… yes sir, yes," you answered quickly, the man giving you a light smile before staring into his cup and sighing to himself.

"… I'm hungry too. Let's go get our breakfast."

"O-okay!" you exclaimed excitedly, jumping out of your chair and noticing both the persian and your eevee were starting to sit up, standing up on all fours as you waited for your grandfather to get out of his chair. "What's for breakfast?"

"Whatever you want, child. The cooks can make anything for you."

"Oh… that's no fun," you huffed, the man giving you a curious look as you knelt down and scratched the feline behind the ears, causing him to purr happily against the palm of your hands. "Ah… are we taking the pokemon or…"

"My persian always follows me, and I don't see a reason why your eevee cannot follow you. Just be aware of your surroundings. There's a time and place to have your pokemon follow you, and only one can be out at a time," he told you, causing you to nod your head as you stood to your feet and gave him a curious look. "Then… let us be off."

"Of course!" you exclaimed excitedly, your hand reaching for your stomach as you already felt a gurgle rising. Considering your food was a bit cold last night, it wasn't as satisfying as it could be. That's for sure, but getting fed always made you feel hungry. No matter what the situation is.


	5. CH04: Informal Formalities

**A/N: HEY GUYS! So, I was actually going to post the last two chapters onto wattpad, but considering that the site seems to be having problems, again, I decided to review another chapter before I went to bed. I hope you guys ENJOY this chapter, and hopefully this story doesn't get too boring, again, but meh. I don't know. I haven't looked over this story in a while so it could still have some nuggets of treasures to uncover.**

And, thank you PhoenixLord27 & NoxNightKing for following, and PhoenixLord27 for favoriting this story **. I hope you guys ENJOY!**

! #$%^&*()

You tried your best to hold back your grinning over how afraid everyone seemed towards your grandfather. Okay, sure, you are used to others attempting to be intimidating, but here he was causing silence as he entered a room, and no matter how soft his tone of voice was, everyone else was afraid of him. Even the cooks… or rather, almost all, except for one fellow who was, apparently, the head cook, who could look your grandfather straight in the eye. "Mr. Giovanni. What'll it be today, sir?"

"How about…" he paused, his gaze falling upon you and you gave him an unsure look before he turned back to the cook behind the plastic glass, "scrambled eggs, lightly seasoned, a small amount of hash browns, and a cup of fruit. Two trays worth."

"A light breakfast today," the cook smirked, turning to some boy who was standing right behind him, and he quickly yelled at the boy to get going before turning back to your grandfather, "and who's the tot?"

"My granddaughter, Viola. I expect that you give her the same respect as myself," your grandfather stated bluntly, but instead of looking frightened you heard the other man sigh deeply in response.

"Sure thing, boss. We'll have your food out momentarily. The freshly brewed pot of coffee is the second pot," the head cook stated, pointing to the row of four pots of coffee, all sitting on hot plates as they waited to be placed into cups and sipped by whoever came by.

"Thank you, Nate," you heard Giovanni say, causing the cook to snort and wave a spoon he had in his hand at the older man, and your grandfather looked at you with a slight smirk before ushering you towards the beverage station. "Nathen Ratchet, one of our finer cooks. He wasn't the best agent, but since he knew how to cook he was placed here."

"Oh… Okay," you answered, stopping in front of the counter as your grandfather began to pour himself another cup of coffee. "… That's your second cup," you decided to say as the man gave you a curious look before smirking slightly at your words.

"Yes, and it won't be my last. Now, what do you want to drink? There is orange juice, apple juice, lemonade, and water."

"A-ah… orange juice, I guess," you responded meekly, accepting the chilled bottle of juice your grandfather gave you before he ushered you to the large cafeteria room. The two of you sat down in a random corner of the room, far enough away from the doors so you could observe, but not too far to disappear into the sea of circular tables and metal chairs. You noticed his persian was now sitting beside him, knowing he wasn't supposed to be up on the table or in the chairs, but also knew that he'd be getting his food here.

Meanwhile, you noticed your eevee had jumped up onto one of the seats, and you took him into your arms, placing him upon your lap as you leaned your head onto the table. You couldn't help but look a bit bored as well as obviously tired. "… You should get more sleep, child. You look tired," he stated bluntly as he casually sipped his hot coffee, and you gave a slight stare at your orange juice before looking back at him and giving him a pout.

"I could say the same," you responded, letting your own smirk appear upon your face, "though, I bet that coffee helps, huh?"

"Certainly does… Drink your juice," he told you sternly, and you sighed simply as you reached for your bottle, opening the top, before taking a slight sip and tasting the sweetness of your drink. "… Are you really an insomniac or is it something else?" you heard him ask, and you shrugged your shoulders in response.

"Always found it hard to sleep. I can stay up for hours, but the moment I fall asleep, I want to stay asleep… I'm not a morning person," you told him bluntly, causing the man to smirk and shake his head.

"Well, you can't have coffee yet, so you should sleep more. Hmm… I wonder where our food is," you heard him say, and you rolled your eyes at his question.

"They're making the food, of course. Food making takes time, grandpa."

"I have no doubt that it does, but –" you noticed that he paused, giving you a slight look before smirking to himself and sipping his coffee once more. "I'll have you know, child, that I'm can cook too. I know how long of a process making food is."

"Oh? Like what?" you decided to ask, but he shrugged his shoulders at the question.

"Pasta, lasagna, to name a few –"

"Ah. Italian dishes," you smirked, sipping on your juice as he gave you a slight glare. "So, a lot of tomato sauce, eh?"

"Not **just** tomato sauce, and you shouldn't underestimate my skills," he snorted, but you couldn't help but let a cheeky grin appear upon your face.

"I don't underestimate, but since I haven't tried your cooking I cannot assume it's good or not," you decided to say, but when he snorted you couldn't stop the light-hearted giggle that left your breath, and in turn a slight grin appeared upon the man's face. That is, until your food was delivered to the table, and you realized just how hungry you really are.

)(*&^%$# !

You have to admit, you weren't enthusiastic to meet these Rocket Executives. In fact, you were very, very nervous, and probably a bit scared. But, you stood beside your grandfather's chair, trying to look, at the very least, tall and straight, and you watched as four people, clothed in different attire compared to a mere grunt, came trickling into the Boss' large office. The only thing that kept you from shivering with fright was the persian nuzzling his cheek against your leg, and the fact that your eevee was curled up on the floor, watching the four with critical blue eyes.

You have met Ariana before, watching as she came in, shouting rather loudly, at the tall teal haired man, which you assumed to be Archer. But the other two, the one with purple hair and a scraggily douche looking mustache, and a green haired fellow with a cap and… dark green eyes, you had no clue who they are. You know one is Proton and the other is Petrel, but you have no idea which one is which. "Mr. Giovanni, sir!" they exclaimed all at once, the seriousness in their voices putting you on edge, but you watched with a curious eye as your grandfather responded rather bluntly and ushered them to all sit down in four chairs that had been placed in front of his desk, for this particular, private meeting.

"So, that's the kid everyone is talking about?" you heard the purple haired man ask, only to be roughly nudged by the woman sitting next to him. "Ow! Hey! –"

"Let's get the formalities out of the way," Giovanni stated gruffly, and you noticed the man quickly closed his mouth before your grandfather waved his large and rough hand at your general direction. "Archer, Ariana, Petrel, and Proton, this is Viola Rosso, my granddaughter. I expect you four to treat her with the utmost respect."

"Of course, sir," the Archer man exclaimed, and you gave him an unsure look at his determined tone of voice, and you noticed your grandfather smirking slightly before turning his attention to you, looking you straight in the eyes.

"Child, these are the Rocket Executives, the highest ranking members of our team, below myself, of course. I believe you have already met Archer and Ariana," he stated, and you gave him a slight nod of your head, too frightened to utter a single word, and he nodded before pointing to the purple and green haired men. "Proton is the one on the far end, and Petrel is sitting next to Ariana. If I cannot be available, I expect these four to be working in my place. You may go to either of them if you have questions."

"Ah…" you managed to say, noticing your grandfather wanted an answer and you quickly gulped the spit that was lingering in your throat. "Okay… yes… sir."

"Sir?" Ariana snorted at the way you addressed your grandfather, smirking at you while you turned to her and gave her a slight pout. "You two are rather stiff, aren't y'ah?"

"Ariana! No need to butt in –"

"Shut it Archer. I'm just stating something I'm observing here –"

"I don't know how this place works and I only just met my grandfather less then a week ago. What do you expect me to say?" you huffed, glaring at the red eyed woman, causing her to look at you slightly startled, but when you realized you just snapped at an adult you quickly turned to your grandfather, noticing the stern, yet curious look adorning his face. "I-I mean," you blushed madly, unable to stop yourself from stuttering, "I-I'm sorry –"

"Hah! So she's feisty. I like it!" the guy named Petrel exclaimed with a grin, and you gave him a pout as your grandfather sighed and shook his head slightly.

"Back on topic," you heard your grandfather speak, sternly, casting an irritated look at his executives before sitting comfortably in his chair, as if he was at ease, "let's finish cleaning up the mess from yesterday. However, Petrel, I'd like you to show Viola the facility."

"Wah? Me? Why me? –"

"I need Archer and Ariana, and Proton has his own business to take care of. You can take some time off today… right?" Giovanni asked, his eyes glaring slightly as the man grinned nervously in his chair.

"Ah, yes. Of course, sir. I wouldn't mind," he grinned, though you could tell he didn't want to show you around in the slightest, and you couldn't help the eyeroll you did as a result, holding back the sigh that wanted to escape your lips.

You wanted to say that you didn't care and that you can walk around yourself, but you had a deep feeling that talking right now could only get your grandfather mad, and… well… you don't need to be yelled at, right now. You're not in the mood for that.

"Excellent. Proton and Petrel, you're dismissed. Viola," he spoke, getting your attention and you felt the persian leaving your fingertips, walking around his owner's chair and sitting on the other side of him, a bit more proudly then he had been by your side, "follow Petrel out. I expect to see you back here in my office by four o'clock –"

"In the morning?" you smirked, a bit nervously as you noticed the irritated look appearing on his face, and you huffed underneath your breath. "Can't you take a joke?"

"Yes… but –"

"Four in the afternoon. I got it," you pouted, suddenly kneeling down and reaching out your hands for your eevee. "Come on," you spoke softly, Spirit yawning as he stood to his feet and jumped up into your arms. You couldn't help but hold your eevee tightly against your chest as you turned to your grandfather slightly. "I'll be back by four."

"Great," your grandfather responded, watching as you rushed out of the room, glancing up at the tall man as he grinned down at you as he held the door for you. You couldn't help but give the man an unsure glance, rushing out of the office space as the door closed behind you.

"… Are you really keeping the girl around?" Archer decided to say, causing Ariana to shake her head and sigh in response.

"What? Can't handle a kid, Archer?"

"I-it's not like that! –"

"The girl has no other relatives. Trust me, I've checked," Giovanni huffed, reaching for his cup of coffee and taking a light sip. "… The situation is dire, Archer, and honestly, I wouldn't trust her anywhere out of my sights, right now."

"… We haven't found much on Silver," Ariana decided to speak up, causing the Boss' gaze to turn to her as she continued bluntly, "but no body? Surely there'd be something. Not even a backpack or anything. Can't even find any records at the nearest police stations, written or disposed of, later."

"I see… Did we get rid of the spies?" Giovanni turned, asking Archer, and he quickly nodded his head.

"As far as we know. Anyone who was suspected to side with Antonio Castillo has been interrogated and taken care of, and the small few that were wrongfully suspected had their memories wiped clean and thrown out onto the streets. When it comes to the man, we're still unsure if he's really dead or not."

"No body means not necessarily dead," Ariana stated simply, and the man nodded from behind his desk as he set his coffee down.

"Exactly what I was thinking," Giovanni grumbled, his eyes glaring for a moment at a far wall before turning his attention back to his top-ranking executives. "… So tell me, what sort of trouble did Silver get himself into that made him such a target? Why is the damn Pokemon League after my son?"

! #$%^&*()

"What a unique looking eevee," the tall executive spoke with a grin, but you glared up at him, pulling Spirit closer to your chest as he pouted at your cautious actions. "… I'm not going to steal him, if that's what you're thinking. What? Did the Boss get him for you? –"

"No. I caught him myself. He's mine and has been with me for years now," you said simply, your eevee glancing over at you curiously before wiggling slightly, causing you to place him down on the ground and for you to let out a tired sigh. "So, ah… a tour, huh?"

"You sound disappointed," Petrel couldn't help but smirk, but you shrugged your shoulders in response.

"I am, yeah. Probably," you decided to tell the man, and he grinned and scratched the back of his neck.

"Well, let's get this over with. This building is rather big, but most Rocket bases are set up in the same fashion, and those that aren't are because we renovated them for our purposes… And don't you worry, kid. I made a promise, and I won't let anything happen to you… You're the Boss' kid, after all. I'd get into serious trouble if you don't come back to him."

"Hmm…" you responded, giving Spirit an unsure look as the eevee shrugged at your uncertainly, and the two of you turned your attention back to the man as he took out a card key, using it to open the elevator. "What's that?"

"A card key. Every Rocket member has an ID card, but agents are given card keys, and one's rank depends on what secrets to the facility they can unlock," he told you, grinning as he pointed to the door as the sliding doors opened in a moment's notice. "Plus, how quickly the elevator door will open for the card holder. Come on," he told you, walking into the elevator casually as you meekly walked inside, Spirit keeping up with your strides as you both watched the doors close, and the elevator began to descend towards the ground level of the building… and perhaps below that. "… Though, depending on what a person is trying to open, they might need both the card key and the ID card of the particular Rocket member. Our IDs are changed every four to six months, depending on what happens, and the card keys change every month, or every week if we're having security troubles. Us executives are constantly updating our cards, considering that we can open up almost everything at the Rocket bases."

"Oh… interesting," you decided to say, causing the man to smirk down at you. "… Why are you telling me this?"

"Because kid, you're the Boss' kiddo. If you don't learn about this stuff now then you'll figure it out in time. Besides, I can tell the Boss wants to trust you. So I might as well assume you can be trustworthy."

"I see," you frowned at the thought, but he chuckled at your unamused look. "… Mrs. Ariana told me that you have been around since my, ah… since my grandfather's mother has been around," you began, noticing his eyes glancing down at you slightly as you continued to stare up at him, looking to see any hesitation or faults he could be giving you, to show that he's lying or attempting to hide something. "What sort of woman was she?"

"Madame Boss? A hard ass, but a very fierce woman. I wouldn't want to get caught in her wrath, though. You think the current Boss is tough? You should have seen her," he chuckled underneath his breath at the memory, but you couldn't help but give him a curious look.

"I ask cause… I-I never knew her or heard about her so… yeah," you shrugged, his eyes looking down at you before he sighed at the past memories that came to his mind.

"If you must know… I was there when Madame Boss decided to officially bring Giovanni into the team. Before, he did all he could to stay away from Team Rocket, but when his son was kidnapped… that was the final nail in the coffin, I guess. So… kid, are you planning on sticking around?" you heard Petrel ask, your head looking up at him with a pout on your face before you looked down at your boots and sighed deeply to yourself. "… You don't have to make a decision or anything like that now, but –"

"I just… I lost my parents, and now I know some guy is my grandfather… There's not that many people I can trust, a-and even if I can trust them, I-I'm not going to put them in danger for my sake… I don't know," you sighed, looking up at him with a serious look in your eyes, causing the man to give you a hesitant look in return. "But, I'm going to get stronger."

"Stronger how, kid?"

"Ah… t-that… I'm not so sure about," you honestly told him, but he smirked and nodded his head at your words.

"Then you better get stronger, kid. Team Rocket is a tough place, and if you cannot be strong and confident you won't get very far here."

"I assumed that," you smirked, the man noticing your grin and he chuckled in response.

"Right, right… But don't be so cocky either. After all, you're just a kid. There's a bunch of people here that will try to take advantage of you, Boss' kid or not."

"Yeah… yeah, I know," you sighed deeply, a frown appearing upon your face at the thought, and Petrel huffed underneath his breath, glad to see the doors sliding open so he could get out of the small, cold metal contraption.


	6. CH05: Criminal Evolution

**A/N: HEY GUYS! I guess it's been a while since I posted another chapter. I'm going to try to review/post as many chapters as I'm able, before I head off to a retreat this weekend. There, I'm not going to have ANY wifi, which is going to suck, but maybe it'll give me some time to review more chapters and post them when I get home, and work further in my fanfic stories. I have a lot of plans that I hope to complete: finishing a new, improved resume, get closer to finishing my stories, and possibly completing one of my playthroughs. So, yeah. I need to pack for the trip, so we'll see if I add another chapter after this today or not, but I'm kind of excited to have some time to myself, to reflect on my life. I've kind of hit a standstill right now, and while it's given me the time to go forward on OC stories and such, I should really be getting my life together.**

 **But hey. Having a Criminal Justice degree did help me with this story. Plus, I kind of like the 'crime' genre, and no I'm not a criminal or anything. I just prefer crime shows… and supernatural shows. I'm not the best as writing horror stories, but I do prefer the suspenseful and supernatural, and stuff.**

 **But I'm ranting, again. Anyways,** thank you PhoenixLord27 & NoxNightKing for following, and PhoenixLord27 for favoriting this story. **And, I hope you guys ENJOY the chapter!**

! #$%^&*()

The entire day was spent roaming around the Rocket base, Petrel showing you every single floor, and almost every single nook and cranny. The mundane quarters below the ground floor, the lounging areas all throughout the building, but mainly close to where the grunts and agents dwelled, the cafeteria, the training grounds, and then all of the offices and rooms above the ground floor. You learned quickly that mostly everything was underground, and only a few things were above ground. Heck, even the parking space was underground, which was a very interesting design. Sure, there are emergency exits, but if a fire were to break out on an upper floor of the building, those down below would have a hard time of getting out.

But you suppose it's all for secrecy. After all, the Rocket base only seems to be seven stories tall, from the outside. Your new living quarters, you figured out, were on the top story, and the Boss' main office space was on the sixth story. There are probably a set of stairs that can directly bring you to the top, onto the roof. You couldn't wait to explore on your own.

But… you doubt your own exploration adventures will be happening anytime soon. You could tell that your grandfather wanted to keep an eye on you, even at the expense of his executives. In fact, you overheard Petrel and Ariana arguing about who would be taking care of the 'rugrat' next, and that it wouldn't be them.

You don't need to be taken care of! You've handed yourself up to this point, and their bickering over you is getting on your nerves.

But, oh well. Either way, you've figured out some interesting things about this base, things you'll have to exploit later. Especially the card key information Petrel told you, and the fact that the training floor is for, both, people and pokemon. Maybe you can sneak in there in the middle of the night? You wouldn't mind some training, on your own.

Yet, you couldn't help but feel annoyed at the looks you were getting, as you walked throughout the hallways, by Petrel's side all day. Either they were looks of confusion and intrigue, or disgust and irritation. After all, you're the only kid here at the base, and most kids are here because their parents cannot find babysitters for them. That's something you overheard. Some were concluding that you were Petrel's kid, which made you snort in disgust.

But… to hear that there are other kids here, sometimes… did make you hopeful. Everyone around here is running around, doing this or that, looking as if they're in a rush to get something done. You stick out like a sore thumb because, a, you aren't wearing any sort of Rocket uniform, and b, you're a kid. A snot nose kid that can easily get in everyone else's way.

You especially felt that way when you were shown where the laboratories were. All the guys and gals in white coats, running around and almost tripping over you, glaring at you as if their stumbling was your fault. Whatever they were doing, the experiments they were planning, made you weary, especially when you saw caged up pokemon.

You knew this wouldn't be perfect, but… pokemon… in cages? Anything in cages makes you weary, if you're going to be honest with yourself.

"You've been limping kid. Are you alright?" you heard Petrel ask you as the two of you waited for the elevator to show up, again, and you shook your head at him. "… You sure? –"

"My leg is fine, I think. I just dinged it a bit when I was jumping off of a roof," you told him, glancing up and noticing the wide eyes he was now giving you. "… What?"

"Why were you jumping off of a roof?" he asked, his tone more confused and intrigued then worried, you noticed, but you sighed and shrugged your shoulders at him, tucking your hand into your pant pocket and feeling Spirit's pokeball between your fingertips.

"During that day when things went to shit, I guess. You see, I had the address to where I'd meet my grandfather, so I went out to meet him, myself. I noticed something was fishy when I showed up, so when I heard gun shots I released a bunch of pokeballs nearby. Then, I climbed up onto the roof to get a better view, but… the roof was rotten and unstable, and I didn't realize that until the ground started to shake. The roof was caving in, and I would have hit the concrete, but suddenly a rhyperior showed up and caught me before I could tumble to the ground. I think I twisted my ankle or something," you told him, staring down at your left leg before looking back up at him and shrugging your shoulders, "but it was only numb so I don't think too much about it."

"Kid, seriously, you should have said something," Petrel groaned, the two of you stepping into the elevator as the doors closed before you, and he pressed a button, sending the two of you back down below the ground level. "I'm bringing you to the infirmary."

"B-but it doesn't really hurt –"

"Viola, you're just as stubborn as your grandfather. Don't fight me on this. Besides, if the Boss thinks your limping is my fault then I'd be in trouble."

"Fine, fine," you huffed, glaring up at him, but then you glanced away, staring at the reflective walls and sighing to yourself. "… So… ah… y-you were talking about how you executives have a particular set of skills?"

"Right," Petrel chuckled underneath his breath, knowing that you were trying to change the subject, again, to avoid topics about yourself and your own personal problems. "Usually, the Boss has about four executives, though at some times it's more or less by a person or two. Four is a good rounded number to distribute the workload, I assume. Plus, there are many agents underneath our commands, that report to us and not the Boss. The Boss, you see, is like a CEO of a major company. Heard about, but rarely seen, though unlike Madame Boss, the current Boss does his best to introduce himself, at least once, to every grunt that shows up. Even if it's not much of an introduction, and just a form of intimidation."

"I figured," you decided to say, and he smirked at your blunt comment.

"Right. Well, Giovanni promoted me to executive because I can easily disguise myself as anyone or anything I want… but mainly people, rarely pokemon. I occasionally teach the recruits at the Rocket academies when they have to learn about disguises, since it's my forte. I'm usually the guy who goes out and spies on people, for the Boss. Archer is the Boss' right hand guy. He knows almost everything the Boss is thinking, only if Giovanni wants it that way. Even Giovanni is selective about the information he shares, but if the Boss isn't going to show up, then Archer is. If it be the grunt recruits graduating or there's a crisis that needs to be solved, Archer will show up about ninety percent of the time, unless Giovanni is very interested in the results. At that point he shows up just to make sure his plans work out.

"Ariana is a very good interrogator, but also a people person, like myself," Petrel grinned happily, and you gave him an unsure look as he gleefully continued. "She's in charge of the agents and grunts, mainly. If there's a star agent, for example, Ariana is the one who will give the agent some recognition. She's good at figuring out which agent works for which mission. Proton on the other hand… he –"

"He's an assassin, I'm guessing," you decided to say, knowing that an adult wouldn't want to admit such a thing, and noticing his stare at you, you quickly continued, "I mean… you all probably killed someone at one point, but that, ah, Proton guy has the eyes of a killer."

"Oh… I was hoping you wouldn't notice that," Petrel chuckled nervously, but you gave him an unimpressed look, so he decided to continue. "Proton replaced a guy I used to know. He handled all of the shootouts and targets we may have. The kid filled the role quite nicely, but he's always a quiet twerp, until… he has a gun pointed at your head. He's not the best guy to be messing with. When it comes to interrogation, he'd rather beat the guy up and ask the questions later, which in an underground group like Team Rocket, is certainly necessary.

"So… yeah. Any questions?" he decided to ask, glancing down at you as you shrugged your shoulders.

"Well… just how large is Team Rocket?" you had to ask, but before he could think up an answer you decided to clarify your question. "I mean… father told me that Team Rocket has spread pretty far. There's no way one could avoid Team Rocket, these days. A global underground empire, I assume, but what I mean is the organization. Grunts, agents, executives, and the boss. Is there more?" you asked the man, and Petrel couldn't help but chuckled lightly, scratching the back of his neck.

"Geeze… for a kid you sure know too much," he mumbled underneath his breath, but you shrugged your shoulders in response.

"I'm not on the run and hiding for nothing," you responded, giving him a slight smirk. "I'm not as stupid as you think."

"Trust me kid, I doubted you were dumb at all. If you're Giovanni's kid, and Silver's kid, then you most certainly have a brain," he grinned at you before sighing and shaking his head. "And let me answer your question… Yes, you're right. The structure of the organization is quite large. Grunts are just the low-ranking fellows that, usually, haven't been around for too long. Agents are the Rockets that have proven themselves, in one way or another. There are a lot of branches, though, that an agent can fall into, and there is ranking within the agents as well. S rank is our highest rank, followed by A, B, C, D, and lastly the F rank. If you're in an F rank then you're close to being… disposed of. You've preformed so poorly that the Boss isn't going to even send you back to society with a wiped-out memory. He'd rather just get rid of you, at that point, but you have to had done some really stupid things, and perhaps be doing them purposefully, before it gets to that point.

"But even with those ranks, there are field agents, base agents, and spy agents. All sorts of agents, including assassins. Some look like everyday folk, and others wear the red 'R' upon their clothes, at all times."

"And the training. You say there are academies?"

"There is a Rocket Academy base in almost every major region. If we have solidified our operations in a region, then we set up an academy, but only once we have done so. If we have enemies still lingering in the region, then we squash them, first. Each academy has the usual basic classes and such. Most that show up are running from a bad living situation or were sent out on pokemon journeys, but never did accomplish anything. We usually have the new recruits train for about three weeks, and after three weeks, if they aren't making too much progress or they obviously want to leave, we wipe their memories before throwing them back to society. After that, there are six months before we go through the process again, and if they aren't making progress then we wipe their mind and put them back in society. But after about seven to nine months, depending on the need for new grunts, we no longer give the option of wiping their memories. It's either they make it, or we break them. Simple as that," Petrel shrugged at the thought.

"Wiping a person's memory can be quite easy, especially with psychic types, but there is always the possibility that a person will regain their memories, over time. So by the seventh month, they know and have seen too much. Sure, maybe they'll recall classes on how to break into places and such, but that doesn't mean they'll recall where the academy is or where a top-secret Rocket base is. We have to live on secrecy, kid. That's the only way our team has survived for as long as it has."

"So, when Trainer Red and Gold showed up –"

"The boy may have thwarted our plans, but we have been around for so long that simply taking us down a few times would not stop us, and that Gold boy? Yeah, he was just in the way. The Boss came back when he was ready to do so," Petrel smirked at you, but noticing your unamused look he shook his head at your expression. "When you're already branded a criminal, it's hard to live in society. Honestly, everyone on the outside is just outsiders, and can easily do us harm. Heck, my rap sheet is so large that I'd be thrown into prison and the key tossed out the window. And the Boss has it worst. If things go wrong then it's all on him. That's just how it is," he shrugged, making you nod your head and glance at the doors with a thoughtful look on your face. "… Anything else, kiddo?"

"No… just… it's weird. I've heard so much about Team Rocket, but to hear everything from another point of view is… interesting. I guess I need to be open minded," you decided to tell him, but he smirked at your statement.

"Kid, for you to come to that conclusion, and to ask rather adult and thoughtful questions, shows that you are already open minded about this entire situation. I'm just surprised you're even asking," Petrel chuckled underneath his breath, sighing contently as the doors finally slid open, and they made it to the floor where the infirmary was set up. "Let's go kid. After we're done with this, we'll go get some lunch."

"Great. I'm getting hungry," you decided to tell him, wondering to yourself if you should let Spirit out of his pokeball or not. While he is a great comfort to you, having a shiny pokemon around makes you… nervous, around a bunch of thieves. Plus, if you're in the way then he's also get in the way, and you'd rather have to endure one person yelling at you, instead of two for accidently tripping over you and your furry gray companion.

)(*&^%$# !

"Hello grandfather," you spoke as you slurped on a smoothie that was in your hands, causing the man sitting at his desk to glance up at you with an intrigue look on his face.

"Have a good time, Viola?"

"Yep! Petrel showed me _everything~_ , or maybe **almost** everything," you stated with a grin, turning to the man who was nervously making his way into the office. "Right?"

"Of course, kid. And you're welcome," Petrel gave you a smirk, and you grinned happily as you rushed over to your grandfather, careful not to spill the smoothie drink in your hands, and you stopped right in front of his persian, who had lifted his head from his currently curled up position on the floor. "Is there anything else, sir?"

"You're excused, Petrel… Thank you," Giovanni decided to say, and the purple eyed man couldn't help but smirk at his Boss' rare gratefulness.

"You're welcome, sir, but keep an eye on the kid. She likes to disappear if you're not careful," Petrel chuckled lightly underneath his breath, causing the man to give him an irritated and unsure look, but once the executive left his office Giovanni sighed to himself, glancing down at you as you continued to slurp your smoothie, interrupting his peace and quiet.

"… I see you had lunch."

"Yeah. Did you?" you asked, but he smirked at your question.

"If I did or didn't that's up to me to decide –"

"Mum always said that if you don't eat your meals, then you'll get fat off of eating snacks all day," you countered with a smirk, glancing around before you walked over to a random small table with a lamp upon it, placing your drink upon the table before walking back over to the desk. "Mum always complained about my eating habits."

"Oh?" Giovanni couldn't help but ask in a curious tone as you gave him a happy grin.

"Y-yeah! I'm an insomniac who rarely eats, unless I'm _**starving~!**_ Mum always forced me to sit down and eat every meal with her. Daddy didn't care too much, though. Just as long as we had a meal at least once a day," you shrugged your shoulders before walking over to his desk, placing your hands up upon the wooden top as you stood on your tippy toes, trying to see the top of the desk. " _Soooo~_ … what are you working on?"

"Business stuff," your grandfather responded, smirking at your nosiness and the frustration that was upon your face as you tried to look at the papers sprawled upon his desk. "… What did Petrel tell you anyways?"

"Stuff like how Team Rocket worked. Where everything is, and such… I knew that Team Rocket was practically all over the place, but I didn't realize it's a global criminal organization," you decided to comment, glancing up at him with curious eyes as he chuckled and suddenly snatched you up underneath your armpits.

You yelped as you were easily picked up and placed upon his lap, the persian staring at the scene with a curious gaze before yawning and slumping his head back onto his paws, finding the display rather boring compared to the catnap he was enjoying. "Thank me for that," he chuckled proudly, letting you see the documents upon documents that were upon his desk, files that were opened and unopened, and honestly you didn't even know where to begin as your eyes wandered all over the desk, trying to pinpoint a spot for you to look at. "Sure, your great grandmother was a smart woman, who could command an army if she wanted to, but she wasn't the best at negotiations. Peaceful resolutions. If there was a problem, she would rather conquer then accept a temporary treaty, and then use that peace to spread her influence even further."

"Oh… So, ah… who exactly started Team Rocket?" you had to ask, looking up at your grandfather curiously as he propped you on his knees, as he began to lean forward and rearrange the mess that was on his desk.

"Madame Boss, or rather, my mother. She started this entire mess, and even now I don't quite understand why she went through all of the effort. She always had a deep seeded resentment towards the current establishment," he told you, noticing your confused eyes and he continued simply. "The Pokemon Leagues that were established worldwide, to keep the peace. Even I didn't escape the world wars, but your father, I was hoping he could have a peaceful life that didn't revolve around warfare and destruction. If mankind continued on the path they had created, then we would have surely destroyed ourselves in the process. Even if there isn't a Pokemon League established in some of the smaller regions, they still have a sort of… oligarchy set in place, who make the tough decisions for the citizens.

"I suppose… your father thought it would be better to play nice with them, instead of countering them, like your great grandmother liked to do. But for some reason, there's still this deep resentment, and the ones who are the very top of the Leagues just won't let that go. I don't know what my mother did, but it's something that cannot be forgiven… I'm sorry for that, by the way. If you weren't born then you wouldn't have to deal with this mess," he sighed to himself, and you couldn't help but give him a curious look before smirking and shaking your head.

"I'd rather know then be naïve, grandpa. Plus, i-it doesn't mean I'm going to follow in your footsteps or anything… or father's…" you admitted, glancing at the papers before looking up at him with wide eyes. "So who is this Madame Boss?"

"Her name was Maria Roket, but I know that she changed our family's surname long before she had me –"

"Maria?" your eyes widened at the realization, and your grandfather gave you a curious look as you continued with a grin, "That's my middle name!"

"Right," he chuckled, patting your head, looking at his desk for a moment before looking back to you with a smirk on his face. "It wasn't a decision I made. Your parents decided to give you the middle name of Mariam, after your great grandmother. I didn't even know until your father told me."

"O-oh… but I always wondered about that," you admitted, and he smirked as sat back in his chair.

"I named your father after Mt. Silver… and the fact that he had gray eyes. That's a trait in my family I honestly am not aware of. Maybe from his mother's side," he shrugged, closing his eyes as he sighed to himself. "But, your parents wanted to keep up the color names, I suppose. You were named after Violet City, as well as the flower. Your middle name was my great grandmother's, and the surname… yeah. You already know. And then that aunt of yours named her son after Blackthorn City, I believe. I don't know why **she** would be attached to such a place, but I do know that boy of mine spent a lot of time in Blackthorn… strangely enough," he decided to say, a thoughtful look crossing his face before turning to you and giving you a light grin.

"Anyways, you could think of it this way: your great grandmother set up Team Rocket, and then I expanded on her vision. As far as our establishment as a criminal organization, Team Rocket spans the globe, almost every region, in some sort of way. If not direct, then indirectly. After I returned, I decided to continue staying in the shadows until we've taken out every opposing force, or brought them under our control."

"Oh… but what are your plans after Team Rocket has spread everywhere?" you had to ask, noticing the man giving you a stern look while you gave him a nervous smirk in return. "I mean… okay, so Team Rocket expands their empire. Conquers the underworld. Takes out all of the gangs and teams that are in the way. What's next? Just… what? Stay hidden? Do nothing? Maybe try to take out the Pokemon Leagues, for example? But if you do that, would that just create a vacuum of power? Would Team Rocket try to fill that void? And even if the team could, it would just be about fear and intimidation. Even if the Leagues are rather rotten, that doesn't mean the system doesn't give others some security. Just… Team Rocket wouldn't last long if they did that… right?" you asked, looking at him curiously, but you blinked a few times, noticing the stunned and confused look on his face, and you gave him a nervous chuckle and looked down to your lap. "Ah… s-sorry. I shouldn't have asked."

"No need to apologize. I wasn't expecting a little girl to question so many things," you heard your grandfather admit, and you couldn't help but sigh lightly at his words.

"Y-yeah… I know. But –"

"That makes me proud," he chuckled, suddenly rustling up your untamed hair, and you stared up at him, confused, as he grinned down at you before rustling up more of your hair, tangling it up and making it an unkept mess. "You have an interesting thought process, child, but you're rather young to be questioning such adult matters."

"Well, maybe the adults are too stupid to see the big picture," you responded with a pout on your face, annoyed that your hair has been ruined, but you didn't stop him, seeing the grin that was on the man's face. "And… w-well… I figure it wouldn't hurt to be honest with you," you admitted, watching the grin on the man's face fade slightly, but he patted you once more on the head before taking his hand off of your head and turning back to the papers on his desk. "… _Soooo~_ …"

"… Can't stay still for too long, huh?" the man couldn't help but smirk slightly at you before picking you up and setting you down onto the ground. "I still have a lot of work to get done. I'll have one of my executives send you back to the apartment –"

"Actually, ah… C-could I stay here, with you?" you decided to ask, and when you saw the puzzled look on his face you could only sigh in response, grabbing your smoothie and sipping more of the sugary beverage. "I can handle being alone, but… I want to see what you do, I guess," you told him, but he shrugged his shoulders.

"It's mainly paperwork. Very boring things –"

"Please?" you asked, sweetly, and he rolled his eyes and let out a sigh of his own.

"… Fine, but don't be a distraction," he told you, sternly, and you quickly nodded your head in response.

"G-great! I won't!" you exclaimed, suddenly sitting down next to the persian, who glanced over to give you a curious look, and you grinned down at him before looking up at your grandfather and smirking back up at him, from your position on the floor. "I won't make a peep, I swear!"

"I highly doubt that, but we'll see how it goes," he chuckled at you, looking back to his work as you slumped your shoulders, glancing around the room and taking in everything you could see in his office.

While you know this'll be very boring, you didn't want to be alone right now. What's the point of discovering this long lost relative if he's never around, and other people are? It's obvious he's pawning you onto other people, but… he's told you so much, too. You cannot help but be gleeful over all of this new information, and you slumped down, your head on the carpet as you stared up at the ceiling, wondering what other secrets you can uncover during your stay here at Team Rocket.


	7. CH06: Family Secrets

**A/N: HEY GUYS! I just got back from my retreat, and let me tell you guys, it was very nice not having to deal with a bunch of stuff. Yeah, I missed the internet, but then again it was nice to spend some time contemplating my life, finishing up on various stuff I wanted to do with my free time, and spending time with the Lord.**

 **But anyways, get ready for a bunch of new chapters! I may post them all tonight, some tomorrow, or try to dwindle it out throughout the week. Probably, I may post just this one tonight, maybe another one, before posting more on Monday. We'll see how it goes, and if I'm tired when I get home or not. I'm pre-writing this author's note up [on Thurs] so we'll just see.**

 **But I also wanted to tell you guys that I'm posting up a new 'story'. I think I started to tell you guys this, or maybe I didn't, I can't remember. This story of Violet the OC is a story I wanted to write in a long time. This 'origin story', I decided, will help ground everything I plan on writing in the future. If it's completely separate I'll probably say that at some point in that particular story, but yeah. Assume Violet is there or could pop up as a random OC in any pokemon story I write, now. The moment we learned that any universe of pokemon anyone creates CAN be part of the overall pokemon story [see Team Rainbow Rocket for that] then I realized I can make up ANY story I want, and it can still make sense in my own pokemon world. For example, characters like Jessie & James will show up alongside Archer & Ariana, but their appearances makes sense, in my own canon stories. After all, this is all fanfiction anyways. I'm supposed to be creative.**

 **So, yeah. Realizing this has made me very excited for all of the potential stories I could come up with… unless life gets busy and I'm unable to write anymore, but for now I kind of have a grasp on the whole 'managing my time' stuff. Just sometimes I don't POST my chapters in a while because I haven't reviewed them yet.**

 **Anyways, what I was going to say [and I started ranting instead] is that on my wattpad account, I plan on posting a** 'Violet's Training Daze' **sort of post. I'll place a link here [-] when I've posted it. This story may not keep its original title later on, however I don't plan on writing it yet. That OC story is coming after THIS current Origin Story, and once I'm done with this story I'll start writing that one. This story is my MAIN story. Then, I have a wonderlocke that is a secondary story that I am technically working on, but I only work/post that story up if I'm stuck somewhere in this story. So, I think before I was taking about how I wanted to add your guys' OCs. I think I posted that in my 1** **st** **parter, but I could be wrong. If not, that's alright. I'll explain it now.**

 **Basically, I'm posting that story up, without starting it yet, so I can collect any OCs you guys would like me to add to my story. Since I didn't get any responses last time, here's my longer lasting chance to get some OCs. Team Rocket OCs are the ones I'm looking for, but I could also have other OCs. Trainer OCs, OCs you wouldn't mind turning to the 'rocket' side, or not, that's fine. Just, right now, it's obvious that the minor OCs that I've created are, well, bland characters and I'd love to have other characters to pull from and creatively add as well. Plus, in this 'training daze', I plan on going over the stuff it takes to be a Team Rocket grunt, agent, member… something like that. So any or all OCs would be appreciated. I haven't quite decided if they will be going to cities and disrupting the peace or if a lot of the story will be happening at a base. There will be drama, probably a lot more action [I hope], but we'll see.**

 **But I'll stop my ranting here! Just, I'd love it if you guys would be willing to do that, and if you don't want to that's fine too. If you don't have a wattpad account and cannot comment there, you guys can just message me here. The story will eventually be posted here, probably first on this site, so yeah! Anyways, I hope you guys ENJOY more of this story and THANK YOU for reading to the end of this rant. I tend to talk too much when I'm in the zone, plus [right now] I have a lot of free time.**

 **And lastly,** thank you PhoenixLord27 & NoxNightKing for following, and PhoenixLord27 for favoriting this story. **I'm so happy you guys did that, and thank you for you support!**

! #$%^&*()

The next few days was the same old repetitive stuff. Every morning, you'd accompany your grandfather, after breakfast, to his office, where he'd pawn you off onto one of his executives for the day. By four, you would return to his office, and he'd let you rant about your boring adventures before you fell asleep on the ground, only waking up when his persian began to lick your face and tell you it was time to go.

However, you weren't oblivious to the world around you. The 'traitors' and 'spies' have been 'eliminated' by now, and the need for the strong security was deemed unnecessary, and would save them money if they let up on their tight leash, at the moment. Of course, the ones they 'caught' weren't the only spies to infiltrate Team Rocket, but as your grandfather stated, you should keep your friends close, but your enemies closer.

So… probably, the Pokemon League knows where you are, by now. Those thoughts made you nervous, but…

You shouldn't hold yourself back and live in fear for what could come. Your grandfather was right about your life constantly being in danger. You might as well learn to live with that. After all, ever since your mother died you feared your own demise. It's a lifestyle you can get used to, but it still takes time. Every single time you turn a tight corner you're on edge, like something will pop out and snatch you away. More and more often, when you're alone, you send Spirit out just so you're not so nervous. Not just because he has a stronger nose and has good hearing, but just for the company, if you're going to be honest with yourself.

But today… was going to be a boring day.

Instead of waking you up and forcing you to go with him to his office, your grandfather left you in the apartment, and told you to spend your day there. Why? How boring is that?! From all the talks, you assumed the 'mess' they were cleaning up was just about done. Is something wrong?

Did you do something wrong?

You sighed as you laid on the carpet in the living room, staring up at the ceiling with a bored expression, contemplating your life so far. The persian, who you learned was named Rob, actually, had left with your grandfather. You noticed Don was, of course, perched on top of a bookshelf, looking down at you for a moment before nuzzling back into the nest he made for himself up there, while Spirit was laying beside you, enjoying the silence, if only for a moment.

"… Did I do something wrong?" you decided to ask out loud, and your eevee could only snort in response.

"I highly doubt it. Maybe something went wrong? Or more plausible, everyone is hard at work and can't take care of you."

"So… I'm in the way," you thought, and Spirit shrugged at your words.

"Perhaps. It's not like we can do anything. We always seem to be in the way."

"Right… I wonder if I can get out of here," you concluded, while your eevee rolled onto his belly as he watched you stumble to your feet, walking off into the hallway, and he curiously followed.

"Why? Don't you like it here? –"

"It's fine, but I don't want to be cooped up in one spot all day. If there's a way out I want to figure it out, even if I don't use it… today," you shrugged, calmly walking into your grandfather's room that he used as an office space, and you glanced around, quickly taking in the room around you.

There were locked filing cabinets, a couple of large bookshelves, and a large desk that was almost identical to the desk he had in his large office, but the room wasn't as big. It was a decent size, and you looked at the books that were within your reach, and tugged at the filing cabinets, hoping to pry the drawers open. But sadly, the cabinets were locked, and it'd take more then picking a lock to open them. You sat up onto the rolling chair, sitting up on your knees as you stared at the large desk in front of you.

It didn't have a lock on the top. A few pens placed into an elegant looking wooden pen holder, a lamp, a couple of baskets for paperwork, and some random files placed neatly on the far left of the desk. Curiously, you sat up on the desk, reaching for the files and opening the folders.

Your eyes widened at what you've uncovered. "… Violet, what's wrong? –"

"This is… detailed information on m-me… on daddy. On mum. Where we lived, when mum and I would go to Goldenrod… where daddy went, whenever he left home. It's… all here…" you couldn't help but tell your companion, your eyes scanning the files as you continued to open the folders, careful to place the files back into place, just in case your grandfather were to notice that someone was rummaging through his stuff. A particular folder caught your eyes as you grabbed it, and you shifted into the chair as you opened the folder on the edge of the desk, so you wouldn't be kneeling on top of a hard wooden surface.

Your suspicions were right. Your father had been seen talking to Pokemon League operatives, doing shady business on their behalf. The only difference? Instead of intimidating and murdering people in the name of Team Rocket, he was doing it for the Pokemon League. You… couldn't believe this. You know the information is right here in front of you, but… your father… **did** murder people. That was his job.

Just… just why? Why did he do all of this?

However, you noticed that the moment your mother died was the moment your father stopped meeting with these League officials. When the two of you were roaming throughout the regions, hiding and biding your time. Still, though, he wouldn't hesitate to hurt people, and… there are detailed meetings on when your father met up with Rocket operatives, as well as the Pokemon League.

Why didn't your father say anything?

"So… d-dad was going to put me here anyways… but he died before he could bring me to grandfather," you told Spirit, who frowned at your sad and tearful face, but he sighed and shook his head.

"Then the Pokemon League are the bad guys?"

"I-I don't think it's that simple," you told him, flipping the pages and examining the files carefully. "Team Rocket is bad, now the League is bad, but who is really bad here? Is it just one person? Everyone?"

"You're looking too much into this –"

"You're right. I am, but I want to know who that green eyed guy is," you huffed in annoyance; Spirit giving you a curious look as you reached for a page you didn't want to read, but knew you had to.

You read the reports of Ariana and Petrel, who had sent out field agents to uncover the truth. Petrel's group found no real clues. Only the remnants of the battle that took place at the top of the cliff, six pokemon that had been put into the pokemon center, and under police custody as evidence, as well as no real records about your father's whereabouts. Only the one witness report you made in the town is documented in the folder. Your eyes looked to Ariana's report, noticing that there were a bunch of field agents that talked to the townsfolk, who attempted to identify the perps that took your father out. Heck, she went as far as to drag two people in for interrogation, and kill about seven who they encountered along the way.

That's one reason why no one messes with Team Rocket.

Yet… no matter where you looked, the green eyed, aura using man wasn't anywhere on the reports. As if he… vanished, never existed, and that realization frightened you to your very core.

)(*&^%$# !

A sigh left Giovanni's breath as he walked into his apartment, glancing at a clock in the living room to notice that the time was already nine. "Damn," he mumbled underneath his breath, but as he noticed his persian letting out a tired yawn he smiled lightly, patting the persian upon the head before glancing around the apartment in a curious and cautious manner.

The lights were on, but no one seemed to be around. At least, that's what he felt at first, until he noticed his son's honchkrow perched on top of a bookshelf in the living room, and he wondered to himself if he should make a birdhouse for the dark-type, seeing as he's making a mess of the place. "… Where's the girl, honchkrow?"

"Hmm?" Don asked in a confused tone, blinking his red eyes to stare over at the human with an unimpressed look on his face. _"What?"_

"I said, _where's the girl?"_ Giovanni sighed, kicking off his shoes as he stepped up the step into the living room, his hands behind his back as he stalked his way over to the bookshelf. He decided to glare up at the bird with an irritated look on his face. _"What's the point of keeping you out of your pokeball if you're not going to be useful?"_

" _No need to threaten me,"_ the honchkrow huffed, nuzzling his beak into one of his wings in an attempt to get rid of an itch, before wiggling his body into a sitting position amongst the items he collected up on his perch. _"… The child went into the room over there,"_ the bird motioned with his head towards the hallway, _"before leaving and going to her room. She hasn't left the room since she entered."_

" _When was that? –"_

" _I don't know. Several hours, but there is no sky here. I cannot tell such things,"_ Don explained, shrugging and nuzzling into his nest, _"and she did not want to be disturbed. Said she was fine."_

"Hmm… I see… _Thank you,"_ Giovanni decided to say, though he grumbled underneath his breath before walking down the hallway and walking into his office.

At first, one would think his things hadn't been looked through, but he could tell upon closer examination that the files on his desk had shifted slightly, and the drawers in his desk had been pried open. Though, the cabinets weren't broken into, and he believes the bookshelves still hold all of the books from before, but… just his desk.

Realizing the files he kept in his personal office, for his own private use and away from prying eyes, for his thoughts and his alone, he realized the situation as he briskly walked to the girl's closed door. Giovanni noticed his persian was already at the door, scratching at the wooden surface slightly before stopping when his owner came to his side. "Viola… Viola, child, are you in there?" he asked, knocking on the door and pressing his head up to the door, waiting for a reply. "… Child? –"

"I'm… I'm here," he heard, followed by a sniffle and a slight whimper.

"… Are you alright, Viola? Should I come in? –"

"I-I'm… I'm fine. Y-you don't have to… come in," Giovanni heard through the door, and while the girl's voice seemed even and calm, he could tell that she had been crying. The tone of her voice easily told him.

"Have you eaten?"

"Ah… y-yeah –"

"There are no recently cleaned plates by the sink. I doubt it," he decided to tell her, glancing down at his feline companion as he looked up at the tall human, giving him a glaring look and he sighed in response. He thought about alerting the girl that he was coming in, but then again this is his place, so why should he? Slowly, Giovanni opened the door, and the moment the door opened wide enough, the persian walked into the bedroom, confidently making his way to the bed.

He could see a covered little lump on the bed, the sheets wrapped around the girl's form as she laid on her side, her back facing him. "… Viola, are you alright?"

"Y-ya… y-yeah –"

"You're crying," he stated, hearing a sniffle following his words, and he sighed, shaking his head, before he walked over to the bed and sat down on the edge of the mattress. "… I know you read the files on your family," he began, pausing for a moment before continuing calmly, "but if you want an explanation –"

"I-I get why," he heard the girl say, watching as her eevee popped his head out from underneath the sheets, turning to lick the top of the girl's head, before managing to free himself from the tight embrace to walk to the edge of the bed. He stared up at the man calmly as his fluffy tail wagged slowly behind him, and Giovanni couldn't help but notice the relieved look on the small eevee's face. "I mean… you already explained that, and Mrs. Ariana t-told me that you had grunts or agents or whatever nearby our house, keeping an eye on us and such… That's… not why I'm upset," the girl stated, and he sighed in irritation.

"Then why?"

"The… that man… I swear I-I'm not making him up," she mumbled underneath her breath, the man giving her a confused look.

"Man? –"

"The man that killed my parents. The guy with the glowing green eyes," she answered, bluntly, shifting in the sheets to glare at him from underneath her blankets. The man was startled to see two glowing red orbs staring at him, angry and aggressive, irritated and resentful, but… before he could fully process what was going on, the glow diminished to nothingness and she slumped her head into her pillow. "I'm not… lying. I-I swear, he's real. He's real… H-he killed my parents," she sniffled, her body starting to shiver as she attempted to hold back her tears, and the man could only sigh in response, looking over at his persian to notice he had made his way up onto the bed, slumping down beside the girl's body with his head on his paws, looking at the lump curiously before glancing at him and giving the man his own irritated look.

"Whoever said you were lying?" Giovanni decided to say, hoping to coax the child out of the sheets as he continued somberly. "Yes… I recall you talked about a man, with glowing green eyes, who killed both your mother and father. The papers you found in my office was all the factual evidence we've uncovered… So… why are you crying?"

"I-it's just…" she sighed deeply to herself, slowly moving in the sheets as she turned her body, her stomach now close to the man's back as she stared out of the bed, glaring at the far wall while she kept a distort expression upon her red and puffy face. "T-that guy is a… mystery. H-how can I defend myself i-if I know nothing about him. He's going to… kill me. I just know it," she frowned, but upon feeling a hand gently placing itself upon her head, she couldn't help but begin to tear up once more. "I-I'm just… I-I'm so, so scared.

"D-daddy w-was going to… bring me here anyways. D-did he not think he was strong enough? W-was I just a liability to him? I caused him to… die," she sniffled, sinking her face into her pillow and curling into the warm sheets, wishing that everything around her could simply disappear. That she could disappear.

Giovanni sat there for a moment, his hand upon the girl's head as he wondered what he should say. He thought about lying, he thought about reassuring the girl, and he even thought about simply walking away, but… knowing all those options wouldn't truly benefit the situation. She may be a child, but she also is a smart one, and, considering those eyes… He knew this is very testy waters. He'd have to tread lightly. "I know… that promising you that I can protect you isn't being realistic, but I'll do everything in my power to protect you, Viola. After all, you're my granddaughter, and family is important to me, believe it or not. And… honestly, your father would never want you to believe that this is all your fault. It's not. It truly isn't. It's probably a combination of a lot of different people, including myself, but certainly not you. Definitely not.

"And… your father and I **discussed** that you were to come live with me. Nothing was finalized. When he brought up the idea I knew something was wrong. That's why I sent more agents to keep an eye on the two of you. I guess I failed to see the bigger problem, until it was too late," he admitted, and the girl couldn't help but shift her head to look up from the sheets, staring through his hand at the man staring solemnly across the room, deep in thought.

"W-what problem?" she had to ask. She just had to know. Deep down, she wanted to know, but she was… afraid. Oh so very afraid.

"… While the forms say Pokemon League, what it truly means is the council," he began, glancing down at the child before looking away and sighing to himself. "The Pokemon League doesn't run by itself. There is politics involved, and groups of people behind the scenes. To the public, the Elite Four and the Champion are the ones in charge, but in reality, they are merely idols people can look up to. The real people in charge are a small group of people who call themselves the council. The Pokemon League Council, though in every region their group title could be different. The Indigo League is in charge of both Kanto and Johto. The council are the guys who tell the Elite Four and the Champion what to do, as well as the regional police. The only ones who may or may not have some leniency are the International Police, but even those fellows have to be careful in whatever region they decide to work in. Bigger regions have councils that have a stronger influence.

"When I was a gym leader… I learned about this 'council' that worked in the shadows, that not that many people know about. Heck, I barely interacted with the group, and I mainly discussed gym leader matters with an Elite Four member or the Champion of the region, at the time. You see, some trainers who defeat the League Challenge wish to reside over the region, like a dictator. However, there are the temporary champions, champions who win the League, perhaps even defeat the Elite Four and the Champion, but still are not the Champion. The Champion of a said region is the permanent Champion, the trainer who has not only proven their worth as a trainer, but the council sees them as an easy puppet, a loyal soldier for their plans, whatever they may be.

"What happened was that your father got involved with those council members. One, two, perhaps all of them as a group; I am not quite sure just how involved your father was. No matter how well they say they are, they still are humans. Your father ended up being their errand boy, just so he could keep his family… safe. I didn't know the full extent of the situation, but… Silver wanted to live his own life. So I let him and… this is what happened as a result," he sighed, his hand leaving the girl's head as he ran his fingers though his locks of hair, rustling up his greasy brown hair slightly, and pondering what more he should tell the girl.

"At some point, I managed to explain my concerns. Of course, your father didn't listen, but… then we talked about you. The fact that your mother is gone, I'm the only relative that could truly be of any use, and that his life was now on the line. One wrong move and he could end up dead, or worse… He didn't want you to get stuck with that burden. We never did agree that you would stay with me, but… the original plan was that he'd bring you to one of the bases, I'd meet you two, and we'd explain the situation to you. Your father would leave and work out the problem, and if he could manage to get out of whatever promises or expectations the council had for him, then he'd return and bring you home.

"That… didn't happen, and before he could truly give me an answer… this all happened," Giovanni sighed lightly to himself, his gaze glancing down at his persian, who was staring at him with a calm gaze, before he looked back to the girl. "That man you spoke of, the one with the glowing green eyes, is probably a henchman for the council. I'm not surprised that they know of our family history, to an extent. They sent a man who could… rival us, who knows how to blend in and disguise himself, and to wait before striking. He showed up that night when my grunts were murdered and your mother killed, and he appeared once again when he killed your father.

"But, I have yet to get a good picture of him. No one knows his name or anything about him. He's a mystery… and only myself and the executives know that he's a problem. So… I will tell you that I am aware of the situation. I can do all I can, the Rockets can do all they can, but at the end of the day… I still don't know the full motive. I don't know if they want you dead or not. How everything has played out… I wonder," he admitted, the girl pouting at him before shifting in the sheets and comfortably placing her head against the fluffy pillow.

"You don't believe this… council wants me dead? H-how can you say that? My parents are dead. Shouldn't that be evidence enough? –"

"I know how they operate, Viola. I'm being honest with you because I know you want the truth, and lying will not be helpful here. Plus, I trust my own grandchild enough that she won't repeat these words to anyone else," he explained, glaring at the girl slightly before glancing away and staring at one of the pictures hanging within the room, smiling faintly at the memories he has tried to keep, for so long. "… Yes… they killed your mother, they killed Silver, but… if they were going to have you killed, it would have happened already. If they wanted you dead to send a message to Silver, they would have killed you along with your mother, and if they wanted you killed with your father to send a message at me, they would have done so.

"There is more at work here. I fear that they want… you."

"M-me? W-why me? –"

"Our bloodline, for starters. Where you come from, but more importantly, what they want are more loyal soldiers. Obedient worker beedrills that'll do what they say, without question. Either through fear or erasing your mind entirely, they'll train you into a child soldier, who will do everything they want, no matter what it is. That's what they wanted out of your father, and probably at some point he refused, and that's when they got angry," the man decided to say, giving the girl a meek smile before shaking his head. "I can understand if you don't believe my reasoning, but they are a crafty bunch, not doing anything without a reason.

"But still… I will do everything I can to protect you. Absolutely everything. You have my word, child," Giovanni told the girl, placing his hand back upon her head, and causing her to glance up, noticing the determined look on her grandfather's face. "Not just because you're my blood or the fact that you're family. You shouldn't have to suffer for the choices your father or I have made. So… please… don't mope about this. The truth will reveal itself eventually, and until then you have to work forward, and not look back."

"I-I… I believe you," she decided to say, reaching up with her tiny little hands to grip his fingers, causing the man to flinch as she placed his hand against her chest, sniffling as she closed her eyes and tried her best not to cry. "But… I-I'm still… s-scared. I'm sorry if I'm bothering you –"

The child immediately stopped as her upper body was suddenly picked up, and she was placed upon the man's lap, her eyes staring up at him widely and in pain as her grandfather wrapped his arms around her body, pulling her head into his chest. "It's okay to cry, Viola. We all get scared, trust me. Just… understand that I am working to resolve all of this. You don't have to worry. You're not alone anymore. You have me now… and it takes a lot to get rid of me, that's for sure," he told her, hearing a light snort leaving the girl's breath, causing him to smirk in response.

But his smile faded as he heard the girl starting to cry into his chest, feeling his chest becoming humid and wet as she let the tears flow down her face, and onto his buttoned shirt. The two of them sat there for a while, the girl sobbing as the man held her close in an attempt to comfort her, until her sobs became light sniffles, and his grip upon her head loosened as he kept her upon his lap.

"… Let us have dinner, alright? I'll call the cooks. Is there something you want to eat?" he decided to ask, but as the girl shook her head, her grip on his shirt tightening slightly at the thought of moving away from his grasp, and he smiled lightly in response before letting go of her frail body. Giovanni reached into his suit coat, producing a cell phone, before flipping open the phone and searching for the contact number he was looking for. "… Let's get some water," he told the girl, suddenly picking her up into his arms as he stood to his feet, glancing at his persian and her eevee before making his way out of the bedroom, into the hallway, and making his way towards the kitchen in a calm, yet dignified manner.


	8. CH07: The Glowing Aura Eyes

"Why did you tell her all of that?!" Ariana exclaimed with a growl leaving her breath. Noticing the irritated looks upon his executives faces, Giovanni could only grumble in annoyance, putting his head upon his hand as he began to repeatedly tap his finger upon the top of the wooden table. "She may be your grandkid and all, but a child that age shouldn't be hearing the nasty details with her father's death. And the fact that she knows you've been spying on her for years now."

"She didn't care about that," Giovanni bluntly stated, but flinched at the snarl the woman gave him, until Archer put a hand upon her shoulder, settling the woman down, before turning his attention to his angry looking boss.

Starting off their day without any coffee is putting them all on edge.

"So what if you told her everything? What do you plan on doing with her now? The girl knows too much about Team Rocket, Gio. She cannot leave here," Archer decided to say, but noticing the glaring look in his boss' eyes he shifted uncomfortably in his chair, glancing into the kitchen at the pot of coffee that was still brewing on the countertop. "… Why did you call the two of us here so early in the morning?"

"If… you'd like me to be honest," he huffed, the stoic man sitting up in his chair, glaring at the coffee pot that wasn't quite done brewing yet, before turning his dark looming gaze towards his subordinates, "I prefer your advice compared to Petrel and Proton. Proton is still a kid, and Petrel cannot look past the good of the team. So… do you honestly think I shouldn't have told the girl? Viola would have to learn all of this eventually, so why not now?"

"You're just frightening the girl more. If you thought your words were comforting, you're certainly wrong," Ariana huffed. "You're **supposed** to tell children that everything will be alright. That you can protect them. You just told her that you can do what you can, but cannot protect her. Not from everything… but I still don't get that man you described to us. Not even the men we interrogated gave that green eyed fellow away as a suspect."

"The kid is frustrated that there **isn't** any evidence. She thinks she's going crazy, which, honestly, I don't blame her," Giovanni decided to say, causing Ariana to huff at his response while Archer sat there thoughtfully, pondering the situation. "… Something on your mind, Arch?"

"So… do you think this murderer is an aura user?" Archer decided to ask, but Giovanni shrugged his shoulders.

"Possibly. In fact, probably. I had Viola explain to me the events in as much detail as she can remember… no matter how traumatizing that could be," Giovanni continued, glancing at the irritated redhead for a moment before turning back to his second-in-command in a calm, calculating manner. "It wasn't until his eyes began to glow green that she realized he was there. He was the one leading the charge against Silver at the top of the cliff, even though no one involved recalls the man. According to the girl, he has a forretress he uses for explosion, a jynx to immobilize, and a bisharp to finish the job. The bisharp seems to be the strongest on the man's team."

"Then, this bisharp is more connected to the murderer then the other two pokemon," Archer decided to say, causing Giovanni to nod his head slightly. "Do you think he could be from one of the western regions?"

"Maybe. The man was obviously hired by the League Council to threaten my son, and eventually kill him. That man followed Silver's trail across Kanto and Johto… Even if he's potentially gone for now, I have no doubt that he'll come back for Viola. You both know the council likes loyal soldiers, so training a little girl to be one of their foot soldiers would give them a good advantage. And Viola? That girl is already showing signs of being a Roket heir," he huffed, glaring at the coffee pot before turning his attention to his two executives. "I'd rather that information stays with us. I don't trust Petrel to not start selling that exclusive information to people, and the younger recruits don't need to know what that means."

"Isn't there a grunt here with glowing yellow eyes? His aunt has been talking to me about his usefulness," Ariana decided to say, causing Giovanni to snort at that information.

"Marko Ciccone. Goes by the alias of Frank. The girl knows him. In fact, Viola seems to know a lot about his family. They reside in Goldenrod, and his grandmother… would hate me if I started exploiting her grandson," Giovanni decided to say, the two executives giving each other curious looks before looking back to the man.

"You know the woman?"

"Ironically, yes. She used to be a Class A agent here at Team Rocket. Worked alongside Madame Boss, and helped me transition into becoming the new head of the team. But, I gave her the chance to settle down somewhere, and she did. Raised a daughter, who ended up becoming a prostitute to make the payments. The woman was too proud to ask me for any favors, so the family suffered for a long time. Marko is the oldest grandchild," he decided to say, the two executives giving each other curious looks before turning back to their boss. "Ciccone comes from his father side, though. That's why his transfer into our ranks went unnoticed, even after uncovering more of his background."

"So… the boy's aunt works for us?" Archer decided to say, still puzzled over why this boy has any real importance, except for his potential usefulness. "Is she? –"

"She's a shady sort of person, and is obviously using her niece. The fact that she told you that the boy has unique powers only a small few can ever obtain means she's using him to get extra perks and privileges… She thinks the power is unique and no one here understands it. What the girl doesn't realize is that I understand the boy's personal pain completely," Giovanni spoke darkly, glaring slightly past his executives towards the far end wall, but he easily snapped out of his irritation once he heard the coffee pot ding.

"I'll get it," Ariana stated quickly before Giovanni could stand up, not because she's used to serving the boys. In fact, she rarely does, but because she really wants her morning cup of coffee.

"Exactly… the two can learn from each other and –"

"I believe they already are," Giovanni couldn't help but smirk at the skeptical Archer, grinning lightly at his irritated look. "You see, after some coaxing, Viola told me all about her little friends from Goldenrod. You recall we let that boy, Rickie, into our ranks because he had a group of little followers? Well, Viola knows everyone in his Goldie Boys gang. The first girl to join, she gloated."

"Ah. So she's more like you then you want to admit," Archer decided to say, but noticing the glaring look in the man's eyes he quickly closed his mouth, but Ariana decided to chuckle at the submissive stance Archer suddenly made.

"The girl not only has the makings of being a top notch thief, but she also involved herself in a gang, and knows former Rockets without realizing it. Maybe she's better then even you, Gio," Ariana smirked slyly, chuckling at the glare the man gave her as she set down his cup of coffee, watching the irritation quickly leave his eyes as he began to calmly sip his black cup of coffee.

The three of them sat in silence for a moment, Archer watching the two coffee-aholics sipping their coffee, enjoying the brief moment of silence, and his eyes followed the cups as they were placed down upon the table, and their eyes receiving a moment of clarity before looking back to the teal haired man, sitting calmly in his seat and patiently waiting for the others to start up the conversation.

"The girl is… smart. Shy, but smart. Heck, with the right schooling she could end up being a scientist, if she really wanted to. But, she's prying too much into the organization as a whole. I worry about what she's going to find and how she's going to interpret the past," Giovanni said simply, sipping once more on his coffee as Ariana huffed in response.

"You made her cry though. Over –"

"She cried over the fact that this mysterious green eyed aura user isn't anywhere in our records. She didn't seem to be at all confused or angry that I was having grunts spy on her… You told her, didn't you Ariana?" Giovanni stated bluntly, but the woman shrugged her shoulders.

"Of course, but the girl didn't seem at all surprised."

"Silver must have taught her some things," Archer decided to say, the three of them sitting quietly momentarily before he continued. "But going back to Mr. Ciccone. Wouldn't he be a viable asset to our organization?"

"… He joined so his family can have money. Yes, I put his skills into consideration, but… not only will his grandmother go after me and hunt me down if I start exploiting the boy, his aunt would start harassing us for better pay, better accommodations, because of her 'perfect' niece that 'she' recruited… The boy stays for his family, but now that Viola is here, I believe he's here for her… The girl didn't give away the fact that the boy has the potential to use his aura, as does she, but… I want to play this differently and discretely, Archer," Giovanni told him, lacing his fingers together as he slumped his chin onto his hands, and he stared thoughtfully across the dining room table. "… The glowing yellow eyes came from his father, not his mother. His grandmother, if she is aware of his skills, wouldn't know how to handle them. Plus, you know how children are. They change their minds very quickly.

"So… I'll play this out through Viola. With the girl's talking, perhaps the boy will want to hone his skills as well. Plus, I know why the girl wanted to join us in the first place. Not because she wants to be a Team Rocket grunt. I doubt that. Maybe not because she wants to be with me. She wants to get stronger. To defend herself, on her own, and while a normal seven year old would have trouble doing that, by having their aura… they certainly can take anyone they encounter by surprise. The girl is getting antsy anyways. If I keep her locked up in this apartment she'll sneak out, and if I let her roam she'll get into trouble, anyways."

"Then you plan on training the girl?" Ariana decided to ask, and Archer's face lit up at the idea.

"Is she going to be the Rocket heir?" Archer had to ask, and both Giovanni and Ariana huffed at his comment.

"Not if she wants to, but for now, no," Giovanni spoke sternly, but his dark tone faded away as he looked thoughtfully at the far wall. "She's my granddaughter. If I cannot provide her with a decent education what sort of trillionaire am I? Basic reading and writing skills, literature, history, science, math, etcetera. I'm going to provide her with private tutors."

"Oh? Then how does this tie into the boy?" Ariana asked, and the man smirked as he sat back in his chair.

"I'm going to have Viola learn how to fight, as well. It's not too early to start learning. Plus, she knows how to use throwing knives and is familiar with the bow and arrow. After that, if her skills develop and her aura starts to come out, I'll have her move on to… advanced training," he stated, noticing the look the two of them gave him and he huffed slightly in annoyance. "My mother never did give me a choice in the matter. When she realized my potential, she quickly began to exploit it. I'm giving Viola a chance to make her own choices. If she starts to hesitate and refuse, then I'll stop with the aura training. For all I know, she may not even be aware she has that potential."

"I figured Madame Boss would use your skills, but Viola? Are you going to use her? –"

"Maybe, maybe not. Haven't decided, yet, but I left Team Rocket because of my mother's insistence that I have to do things her way. At the end of the day, I ended up becoming a strong pokemon trainer and even began the gym leader selection process. She couldn't argue with the results I made, for myself.

"I understand pressure. That's why I'm not pressuring the girl to do what she doesn't want to, but she's also my granddaughter and I won't let her grow up to be dumb and stupid… She can make her choices, yes, but if she's going to stick around I need to keep her busy," Giovanni told them, and they nodded in response. "So… do you two think it's a good decision or not?"

"It's good enough," Ariana shrugged, "but she came from shabby Azalea. She may not even understand what having a tutor entails."

"She had friends who went to the public schools in Goldenrod. I'm sure she has a basic education, like any other child. Maybe not the best, but something. I'm not going to have the streets raise my granddaughter, alright? She's with me now. So, it's mandatory that she learns what it means to be a Rosso," Giovanni stated bluntly, the two executives giving each other looks before they turned back to their boss and gave him a light smile.

"So, indirectly, you're training the girl to be your heir," Archer thought with a grin, but Giovanni could only roll his eyes in response.

"Let's just say I want to introduce the idea to her. I didn't have that chance with Silver, and honestly, it's easier to watch your back when you're already in the criminal underground. When you live in the public sphere it's harder to tell who is trustworthy and who isn't. Here, it's much simpler… though that doesn't mean it's an indefinite decision."

"Well, we're not getting any younger, Boss. At some point the younger kids will start to replace us," Archer stated, but Giovanni shrugged at his words.

"Perhaps, but until that day comes, I'm still the Boss, and don't you two forget it."

! #$%^&*()

A loud yawn left your breath as you rolled over in your bed, attempting to wake yourself up by rolling around and around in the sheets, ever so slowly. Your eyes blinked, your nose nuzzling into the sheets and breathing in its scent, and before you could slip back into a half-asleep slumber, you felt a furry tail upon your nose, wagging, itching your face. "Okay… okay… I'm getting up," you grumbled, rolling once more in the bed to avoid the furry tail, and you gripped the sheets tightly before relaxing slowly.

You yawned once more, slipping right out of the bed and leaving your sheets unkept upon the top of the bed. You rubbed your hands over your face as you noticed your warm pajamas and untamed hair in the full body mirror. Staring at yourself for a moment, you yawned loudly, stretching your arms up to the ceiling as you cracked and bent your tight muscles and cartilage, eventually letting your arms flop to your side as you glanced over to notice Spirit curled up in the exposed under sheets of your bed, his eyes closed as he absorbed the warmth you had left behind.

"Hey… if you're going to wake me up, then you wake up too," you snorted, scratching the back of your head, and you huffed at the snarky remark he made in your general direction.

But, you slowly walked to the door, slipping on some small slippers your grandfather wanted you to wear around the apartment, apparently, and you let your closed door swing open as you rubbed your dry eyes, and yawned once more into your hand. But before you could get very far, you were stopped by the tall persian standing in the middle of the hallway, noticing your swaying and not-quite awake body, making him smirk at your tired behavior. "Good morning Robbie," you smiled, kneeling down slightly to scratch the feline behind the ears, and then down underneath his chin. He purred contently, his tail wagging happily, and you affectionately nuzzled his cheek with you own cheek before standing back up and rubbing the back of your sore neck. "The food isn't out yet?"

"No, but I also cannot let you pass, yet," the persian stated, simply, his gaze falling upon the barely conscious looking gray eevee that emerged from your bedroom with glaring blue eyes.

"Why not? –"

" _The adults are talking about you,"_ Don stated as he swooped out of nowhere, probably from the living room, and landed upon your outstretched arm as you gave him a tired, yet confused look, _"and Marko."_

" _Mark? Me? W-why? –"_

" _You know I have a hard time understanding your native tongue. Just ask them,"_ the honchkrow shrugged, glancing at the feline below him before opening up his wings, swooping upward, and disappearing down the hallway, towards the living room.

"… I wish I could fly," Spirit decided to say and you sighed underneath your breath.

"Same here," you agreed, watching the bird fly off before glancing down at the persianwhile giving him a suspicious look. "Who's here? Why are they here? Rob?"

"It's the redhead female and the blue haired male. Giovanni called them here, for some reason," the persian stated, letting out a yawn himself before scratching the back of his head with his paw. "If you will get me food, I will let you pass."

"Fine, fine. Now let me go," you decided to say, not risking the wrath of a well trained, and hungry, persian.

Once Rob let you pass you made your way out into the living room, noticing the three adults sitting at the dining room table, your grandfather at the head of the table while Archer and Ariana sat next to each other. The smell of recently brewed coffee filled your senses, waking you up slightly, but not enough to truly be up, yet. "Ah! Ms. Rosso, you're up!" you heard the teal haired man exclaim, causing the other two at the table to turn to you, and you locked eyes with your grandfather, giving him a suspicious look until the feline rubbed up against your leg, his hand pushing up your hand as you sighed lightly.

"Good morning," you mumbled, slowly making your way across the living room and into the kitchen. You grabbed a nearby stepstool that was on the ground while you grabbed three cleaned pokebowls, filling one of them up with water and carefully placing the water down on the ground. "… Don't stop talking on my account," you said, slightly irritated, feeling three pairs of eyes on your back as you went about your task of feeding the three pokemon in the apartment space.

"How did you sleep, dearie?" you heard Ariana ask you, and you gave her a meek smile before stepping off of the stool and making your way to the cupboard where both Rob and Spirit were expectantly sitting awfully close to.

"Good enough. The sheets are fluffier then I'm used to. My back is a bit sore," you honestly stated, setting out the two bowls on the ground before opening the door. You grabbed a bag of pokefood that was half the size it usually was, meaning you could pick it up now, and you poured the food into the bowls before rolling up the top of the bag, using a clip to close the top, and slip the bag back into the cupboard before closing the door. "… How are you?"

"Good, good," she smiled lightly, lifting up her cup of coffee with a grin, and you meekly nodded as you stumbled back up onto the stepstool, grabbing a nearby clean glass and filling it up with water. You carefully took sips before taking a couple of gulps, and you ran some water on your hand, rubbing your tired and sore face, before stepping down and making your way to the table, cup still in hand. "… You are wondering why we're here, aren't you?"

"I'm _wondering~_ why you're talking about me and Marko," you huffed, glancing at your grandfather with a skeptical look, surprising both of the executives as you placed your cup on the table by the chair you wanted to sit by. But before you sat down, you grabbed your grandfather's arm and gave it a tight squeeze. "Good morning, grandpa."

"Good morning, Viola," he smirked back, suddenly picking you up and placing you on the chair right next to him, across from his executives, and he gave you a pat on the head before letting you go. You reached for your cup of water and continued to take a couple of sips, giving him an expectant look. Noticing your suspicious gaze, he sighed to himself and sipped more of his coffee before speaking to you. "I called these two here so we could have a private and personal conversation."

"Oh… You don't want me around or something?"

"You can stay. We finished talking about –"

"Why are you talking about Marko? And me? A-and you weren't supposed to tell anyone that –"

"Firstly, I trust them enough to assume they'll keep their mouths shut," Giovanni stated, glaring at his two executives slightly before looking back to you in a calm manner, "and secondly, I brought up the boy due to relevance."

"Relevance? What's relevant –"

"We know what your family is capable of," Archer decided to say, intervening in the conversation calmly, but noticing Giovanni's irritated face he quickly closed his mouth, but Ariana decided to clarify Archer's cryptic words.

"We know that it's a Roket family tradition for first time expectant mothers to go to Viridian Forest to have their child, in the hope that their child will be gifted with the strange powers of the forest. We know that the family can be quite strong in their auras, which is usually utilized for war. And lastly, we now know those glowing red eyes have been passed down to you, but honestly, I expected it. If Silver had only one child then we shouldn't be surprised," Ariana told you, sipping her own cup of coffee calmly, and you looked at her with wide eyes before turning your shocked gaze to your grandfather, giving him a worried and irritated look.

"That… w-we aren't supposed to tell anyone that. Why would you? What if we're betrayed or something?"

"Kid –"

"N-not even Auntie Blue knows about the red eye stuff, so why do they? Huh?!" you exclaimed, your teeth grinding together slightly as you narrowed your eyes at the man, but before you could continue to talk he put a hand upon your face, causing you to yelp as he gently pushed you back into your chair, making sure you didn't tumble out of your chair due to your outburst.

"Remember when I told you I wanted to give my son a better life then I had? We lived during the world wars, child. I was among many young men that were drafted into military service. However, the generation a decade or two after the wars were expected to live happy lives in the world that was created from the wreckage of war. What I'm trying to say," he sighed, realizing his rambling as he sipped more of coffee before continuing, "is that they **both** saw me in action. It's no secret that I can intensify my strength if I let my aura out, but the younger generations hopefully don't know about that sort of thing."

"I… see," you frowned at the thought, noticing it was a touchy subject to talk about, but you instantly realized where this conversation was going. "So… you talked about Marko because his eyes can glow gold."

"Gold?" Archer inquired, but you gave him a glaring look before turning back to your grandfather.

"Sometimes it's described as a rainbow, but other times by metals and gemstones. Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple. Long ago, many humans could tap into their auras with ease and use attacks like pokemon can, but that no longer happens. Humans have lost their ability to use their auras, if they could before, but there are six original energies that still linger in our world. Six families, hidden away, that can use their auras on a whim. They –"

"Only one child per generation, usually, though the other children could easily train themselves to be aura users," Giovanni finished, giving you a curious glance. "Who told you all of this?"

"Mum," you smiled happily at the surprised look on Giovanni's face. "I'm guessing you told her something, and she picked up on your subtle phrasing. She loved to unlock the mysteries of our world, so maybe there is some ancient text somewhere that talks about this? But dad never really talked about it. Not until my eyes would glow red whenever I was very angry about something," you stated, pointing to your crystal blue eye while giving the adults a light smile in return. "So… ah –"

"You're already aware of aura," Giovanni said with a sigh, and you nodded your head simply.

"Of course. Auntie Yellow helped me train, sometimes, when we stayed in Kanto. I guess at some point I needed to be trained cause… ah… I was too strong?" you thought with a shrug, but Ariana smirked at your reasoning.

"If you don't train yourself and hone your skills, then you can accidently kill someone," Ariana decided to say, your eyes staring at her widely as she continued bluntly. "Silver's powers were mainly dormant, but your family has a tendency to get stronger and more ruthless the angrier you become, like an angry ursaring," she smirked, giving Giovanni a grin while your grandfather sighed and shook his head. "So… we were just talking about –"

"Marko would rather not use his powers," you told them with a pout, sighing as you glanced down at your hands and plopped them onto the table. "He only used it in dire emergencies, or if I wanted to spar with him. He's the only guy I really had a hard time with, plus my dad. I kept coming back to his little group because he was there. But… I need to get stronger on my own, now. H-he shouldn't be involved if he doesn't have to be," you told them, but when you noticed the hesitation on Archer's face you gave him a pout. "What?"

"His aunt likes to gloat over the fact that he can be trained into a strong aura user, for the good of the team," Giovanni stated bluntly, giving Archer a glare before looking back to you, "but it's obvious that she only wants to use the boy. Hearing you say that, I see that the boy wouldn't be very helpful at all –"

"B-but don't kick him out! I mean… unless he's really that bad," you chuckled nervously, quickly shaking your head. "I mean… d-don't give him any favors cause I'm your granddaughter and all, but Mark likes to stand on his own two legs. He doesn't like handouts, but he shouldn't be kicked out of the team because he won't train. He's lucky he doesn't even have to, honestly," you huffed. "He joined to help provide money for his large family. I-I'd rather not be the cause of him losing his job here."

"… I wasn't thinking of firing the boy," Giovanni told you, smiling lightly at the unsure look on your face, "but if he does something stupid, I won't hesitate to do so, like any other grunt. But Viola –"

"Yeah?" you asked curiously, and he smirked before grabbing his cup of coffee and taking a calming sip.

"I'll tell you, this is a conversation that needs to stay in this room. If Ariana and Archer were to blab there will be dire consequences, and the same for you. When it comes to our family history –"

"Don't talk about it. It stays in the family. I know," you smiled lightly at him before sighing and plopping your head onto the table, feeling exhausted. "Am I getting breakfast or are you adults just going to sit around and drink coffee all day?" you groaned, causing Giovanni to chuckle and pat you on the back of your slumped back.

"Sorry child. Archer, could you call the cooks for some breakfast food? The two of you can stay, if you wish."

"Well –"

"Sounds great to me!" Ariana stated with a grin, standing up and staring down at her cup of coffee with a frown on her face. "But if I'm staying, I'm going to have to get another cup."

"Of course," Giovanni smirked, watching the woman walk to the kitchen before noticing the teal haired man already had a phone up to his ear, before turning back to you. "There was something else I wanted to talk to you about?"

"Ah… y-yeah?" you decided to ask, nervously, wondering what else these adults were talking about behind your back.

"I was wondering… what sort of schooling did you have while you were living is Azalea Town?"

)(*&^%$# !

 **A/N: SO HERE WE GO! Yes, aura 'users' are a thing. I was thinking, sure there are aura masters, but wouldn't that also be like a pokemon master? So there has to be some equivalent to being a pokemon trainer, then. So 'aura users'. Simple and easy to understand.**

 **And this is where I introduce the idea of aura using. Of 'pokemon moves' that humans can use. That sort of stuff. If I should explain all of this a bit better then I certainly can, but hopefully the explanation given in this chapter is enough, for now. So, yeah. ENJOY the rest of your day! And I'll probably be posting the next chapter soon enough.**


	9. CH08: Necessary Tutoring

"So… I don't have a choice?" you asked, Spirit now up on your lap as you hugged him to your chest, and your grandfather could only sigh slightly at your words.

"You have choices, but I'm also not going to let my granddaughter become spoiled and dumb. If you're going to stay, you need to earn your keep. Besides, I have the money and the resources to tutor you. Is this not something you want to do?"

"W-well… I… didn't say that," you decided to say with a pout, "but I didn't agree either."

"Problems with school?" Ariana smirked at you as she sat back down in her chair, and you could only let out a tired sigh, knowing that a lot of the conversation is going to be directed towards you.

"Boring. Very boring," you told her bluntly. "The younger kids in the morning, and the older kids in the afternoon. The older kid class was always smaller, because everyone wanted to go off on their own pokemon journey when they turned ten. I hear that the League is planning on changing the starting age for that very reason. But, mum said that if I did well in school I could go on my own pokemon journey. I was excited for that," you smiled meekly at her, recalling the days you'd spend in the classroom, only for your lips to frown slightly. "But once you reach a particular intelligence level, the classes get boring and tedious. The teachers spend more time on the younger students then the older ones in the classroom, so I would fool around. I started skipping my classes, until my mum told me that I wouldn't get what I wanted unless I worked for it. So I'd read books in class," you shrugged, glancing between her and your grandfather, waiting for someone to say something.

"I should have expected this," Giovanni decided to say, but you shrugged your shoulders once again.

"Don't get me wrong. There are times when I loved school, but considering we were a small town in the middle of nowhere, stuck between a cave and a forest, it's not like we could leave every morning to go to a nearby city. In fact, mum was thinking about moving but… yeah, that didn't happen," you sighed. "Or maybe homeschool me. Something like that."

"I see," you heard your grandfather say, but you couldn't help but notice the smirk upon his face, causing you to pout.

"W-what are you thinking?"

"Hmm? Just remembering," he smirked at you before sighing and sipping his cup of coffee. "… Still, I'd rather have my grandchild have a decent education then learn everything on the streets. That's not the skillset one should have if they want to be a leader. Be as dumb as the people they lead? That'll only end badly," he decided to say, but you gave him a questionable look.

"Lead? Lead who? You want me to be tutored so I can take your place?" you frowned, but he quickly shook his head.

"Actually –"

"What? Is that a no, sir?" Archer had to ask, causing Giovanni to groan and Ariana to giggle lightly underneath her breath.

"What Gio is _trying~_ to say is that he's leaving the choice up to you," she told you calmly, giving you a smile at the hesitant look that was on your face. "Being the heir of Team Rocket makes you a target, obviously. Furthermore, who knows if she'd be a good leader," Ariana stated, giving Archer a stern look before looking back at you from across the table. "It's too early to tell, and honestly I'd rather put my hopes in someone I know I can rely on. Not some kid."

"The point is," Giovanni huffed at his executives before turning back to you, "that I want you to make that choice, when it comes for it."

"And when's that? –"

"When you're sixteen, eighteen, maybe even twenty –"

"Seriously?!" Archer exclaimed, but Giovanni gave him a dark look, causing the man to pout and sit back in his chair so his boss could continue.

"I believe that going on your own journey will be beneficial for you. A journey brings you out of your comfort zone and can help mold you into a better or worse version of yourself. Plus, it's nice to have the public perceive you as a completely different individual. But… if you cannot find your way, cannot find yourself a good man and settle down somewhere, you're welcome to come back to Team Rocket," he told you with a light smile, and you gave Archer and Ariana a curious look before looking back at him, hugging Spirit tightly to your chest. "Home is wherever you decide it is, isn't it?"

"Actually… yeah, but I believe home is where my family is," you smiled lightly back at him before sighing and shaking your head, "b-but still… an heir? I-I don't want to be –"

"It's too soon to make a life changing decision. Plus, if your father were alive, he'd probably kill me if I were to force you into such a position. Heck, his ghost may do just that," he chuckled lightly to himself, but noticing your unsure look, and his executives staring at him as if he suddenly lost his head, Giovanni coughed into his hand before quickly sipping on his coffee.

His attempt to cover up his embarrassment caused you to giggle lightly, and the man gave you a curious look as you grinned happily at him. "Okay, well… Can we make a deal?"

"A deal? You and I?" he asked with an intrigued look on his face, while Ariana forced back the giggle that she desperately wanted to make.

"Yes," you spoke as seriously as you could muster, but you could only pout as his grin grew upon his face. "If you're going to make me learn and such like some spoiled rich brat… could you make a promise to me that you'll let me go on a pokemon journey? For real?" you had to ask, noticing his grinning face somber slightly, but you continued with a soft sigh. "I'm not stupid. In fact, daddy always pointed out where the Rocket grunts were hiding, spying on us. I just… want to be able to go off and do my own thing. That's what a journey is supposed to be about, right? An adventure. An exploration. To figure out who you are and what you want to be. I-I want to do that, but I don't want any help. Not unless it's necessary," you finished in a light mumble, but he seemed to have heard through your mumblings to flash you another smirk.

"I see… Well… if I were to send you off on a journey like that, I'd want you to bring someone competent by your side. Plus, I'd expect you to call me every other day or send me some sort of message, so I know where you and what you're doing."

"Yeah. Yeah, okay," you smiled happily at him, sitting up in your chair while you couldn't help but smile up at him. "That's a promise, right?"

"A promise," he chuckled at your determined face, "but I expect you to not cause too much trouble around here. There's still not that many people in our organization that knows I have a kid, who had a kid, and I'd like to keep it that way."

"Seriously Gio? –"

"If Archer is expecting the child to be the next boss, then other people will as well. **Everyone**. I don't want that burden on Viola's shoulders, right now. Let her think about her studies, first," he decided to say before giving you a smirk. "After all, you're a Roket, and Rokets aren't dumb."

"I-I hope not," you decided to say, but you heard Ariana chuckle underneath your breath, causing you to look over at her. "W-what? –"

"If you were having trouble in school with the lack of attention, then you'll get plenty of attention with tutors. Plus, they'll want to make you happy to keep the Boss happy," she stated, causing you to pout.

"That's what I'm afraid of," you decided to say, glancing at Archer. "I don't like suck ups."

"What are you referring to?" Archer asked as you looked at him, but you quickly turned your head away.

"N-nothing!"

"Hah! Be a bit more assertive, Viola," Giovanni chuckled, patting your head as you gave him a curious glance, before turning to Archer and smirking coyly at the thought that passed through your mind.

"Well… if you want me to… You do everything without questioning my grandpa, and while that makes the work easy, that doesn't mean people shouldn't be questioned. That's how people in power get cocky and start abusing it. I-I mean… I'd rather be told that I'm doing something wrong, horribly wrong, then regret my actions later. I'm just saying," you shrugged slightly, but you glanced over at Ariana as she began to laugh and slap the teal haired man on the back.

"Hahaha! Even the kid can see that you're a suck up! Told y'ah it's too obvious."

"Shut it, Ari," Archer huffed, but noticing the amused look on his boss' face, and the curious one on yours, he sighed in defeat and slumped his elbows onto the table "… When is our food going to be here? I'm starving."

"So am I," you groaned, plopping your head onto the table until you felt someone scratching at your pant leg.

"So am I," you heard the persian say, and you huffed at him as Giovanni snorted in response.

"You already ate," Giovanni stated, and you quickly continued with a grumble.

"And I gave you an entire bowl. Two bowls! You don't want to be a fat lazy cat, now do you?... Wait, maybe you do, but you won't be very good at battling, now would you?" you smirked at him, but yelped as he clawed at your leg, just enough to make it hurt. "Hey! –"

"Don't test me, cub –"

"I certainly will, jerk!" you responded back, causing Giovanni to sigh as he suddenly picked you up, placing both you and a bored looking eevee on his lap, while noticing the curious look his executives gave him before glaring down at his persian.

"Persian, that's enough –"

"Fine, fine. No need to be so angry," the persian snorted, glancing between the two humans with a curious look, before sitting his butt down and licking his paw, running the damp paw through his fur. "I'm just hungry."

"Well, you're not in the woods trying to survive, now are you?" you huffed. "So one bowl is enough."

"I get it. _Enough~~_ " the persian groaned, turning to the eevee. "Your owner can be unfair."

"Trust me, it can be worse," Spirit decided to say, and he let out a light mewl giggle as you jostled the eevee in your arms. "Hey, it can be."

"Can it," you pouted, but before there could be more arguing the six of you heard the doorbell ring, and you watched Archer make a quick beeline towards the door.

"… You can talk to pokemon too, eh?" Ariana decide to say, glancing between Giovanni and yourself with a snarky grin, and the man rolled his eyes and let out a tired sigh.

"Don't make a big deal out of this, Ari."

"I'm not, I'm not," she chuckled, holding up her hands slightly, but she quickly scrambled to her feet as Archer tried to fumble two large trays in his hands, quickly snatching up one tray so the food wouldn't tumble to the floor.

! #$%^&*()

"Perhaps the Boss doesn't want you to be a part of the team, but surely there's a reason why you linger around here, for no real reason," Archer huffed as he walked into his office, a much smaller space compared to your grandfather's office, without a lobby area for waiting agents to reside in. He pointed for you to sit down in a chair by the wall as he sat down in his own plush chair, glancing at all of the paperwork on his desk.

You pushed back the snarl that wanted to leave your breath. Out of all of the executives, Archer is probably the most boring. Ariana was always yelling at people, but that made for an entertaining day, Petrel was always roaming the building, and on occasion you've got to leave the building and smell the outdoors for the first time in a while, and while Proton unnerves you, as long as you're quiet and don't bother him he doesn't seem to mind you lingering about.

And then there's Archer.

"Here," he huffed, handing you a large book that made your eyes gloss over, and the groan you were holding in came out at full force. "Read this. I'm going to ask you questions about it when you're done."

"But I don't know the first thing about rocket science. This mathematics makes no sense to me –"

"Understand the terminology and why we, Team Rocket, would find value in such a book –"

"Obviously it's because rocket is part of the title. Team **Rocket** , right?" you huffed, but he shook his head at you.

"Stop arguing and just read it. Don't be so difficult, Ms. Rosso."

You snarled, but did as you were told as you slumped into the chair that was provided for you, cracking open the book with a pout on your face. You may have a brain, but most of the time you don't understand what's going on. In fact, you don't get why he's so insistent that you read things! It's obvious he's keeping you preoccupied so he can work in his office, but still. It's annoying.

He could at the very least send you out on errands, like Ariana and Proton do, or take breaks every once and a while. Just work, work, and more work.

So, you attempted to read the very hard technical book for a while, but your attention span could only last for so long, and eventually you were sitting upside down, your head on the floor and your feet up in the air, with the textbook in your hands as the blood rapidly rushed to your brain. There was a lot in this book, from the basic functions of a rocket, to the engines; how one could build a rocket and send it to the stars. You glanced at the date, noticing it was about five years old, before staring at the page you were reading in a bored manner. There were barely any pictures, but you suppose the information as a whole was interesting enough. Rocket fuel is very hard to make, and everything is so technical and expensive.

But, slowly, you slipped out of your position, sitting upon the ground with the book in front of you, your eyes concentrated in thought. All the while, you didn't notice that Archer was staring at you from the corner of his eyes, both irritated yet intrigued by the realizing look on your face.

He watched you with a smirk as you took out a small notebook and began to write in the book. He could tell you were taking notes on the material, now, or at least the parts you found interesting. You may find the books boring, but he could tell you were at least trying to understand. He could barely see what you were writing, but he had time to ask you questions later.

Right now… he had a lot of work to get through, mainly paperwork, and a lot of conference calls as well.

It's obvious to the man that you're an intelligent child. Your very random with your questioning, but necessary questions speak wonders of your mind. He could tell you are a curious child, who wants to pick apart every detail and find the deep seeded reasons for why things are the way they are or how something works.

He can see the Boss in you, and he felt a sense of pride that he gets to be a part of your education.

He knows the Boss won't approve of this, but he intends on teaching you exactly what you'd need to know to be the next Boss. Sure, business lessons and finances are in order. Understanding the values in the free market, as well as the underground markets. The black market. The ins and outs of manipulation. Of getting what you want. One slip up can end the empire your grandfather has set up. Archer knows that.

He can recall the time when his Boss left. When Giovanni disappeared for no damn reason, saying that Team Rocket had been disbanded. He put it upon himself to keep the team together, but without the Boss there, the charisma and drive that kept the team moving quickly fell apart. And to learn why he left…

Yes…

He can certainly see the Boss in you.

A girl that went out of her way to live on her own. Only a pokemon or two by her side, even though she is too young to be a competent trainer. No matter how smart she may be. For weeks, months, they had trouble tracking the girl down, until she popped up in an obscure location, aboard a shipping vessel. The only reason why the Boss put the pieces together was because of his gym leader buddy. That… Lt. Surge.

After everything the Boss has been through, Archer is surprised he still keeps in touch with those gym leaders. Leaders who have betrayed their duties in one way or another. But then again, it's not like they talk often. But…

This is all so confusing, for him. Why wouldn't the Boss want the girl to be his heir? She'd make a very good leader. She knows how to be stubborn and stand up for herself. She knows how to talk back when she really wants to. She just needs to be trained. To be taught what needs to be taught, what is expected of her. She has connections, connections to people even the Boss cannot reach.

Those Dex Holders… those former children, now grownups with their own children and lives to live, whom caused so much trouble for Team Rocket in the past.

She is very familiar with them. He knows. He can tell. After all, her father was one of them.

So… why? He just cannot understand this decision.

Yes, maybe any child can be an heir. Maybe any qualified agent can rise in the ranks and gain the Boss' favor, but he was Madame Boss' heir. This is a family business. Why not have the child join? It's not like she can live out on her own anytime soon. It'll be, at the very least, three years before she can officially become a trainer, and that promise the Boss made has to be fulfilled.

So… until those tutors are picked and show up, he'll do everything in his power and abilities to teach the girl what she needs to know. After all, even if she isn't some heir shouldn't she know what she'll be up against? There are former Rocket members who want to overshadow or completely demolish Team Rocket. There are even those in the ranks who want to take the Boss' place, when he retires… or rather, dies in some way or another. Even if she refuses, her life will still be threatened by other people. By power hungry people who want to get rid of a potential threat.

She is a threat. There's a history in this team, in that family, Archer has never been able to see, but he can tell that his Boss is always on edge. Always risking his life, knowing his life is at stake at all times. Even now… after cleaning up the mess with Mr. Castillo… the team is still at risk.

Meaning the girl is also at risk.

She needs to grow a strong outer shell. She needs to be tough and strong, yet witty and hold confidence. Right now, she's too meek. She accepts what is spoken to her. She needs to grow out of those shy little habits.

It'll only get her killed.

Get the Boss killed… and…

He doesn't want to see that happen. Not after everything he had to do to get the Boss back.


	10. CH09: Aura Demonstration

**A/N: OKAY GUYS! This is the last chapter I have reviewed over my weekend. I mean, this is the 4** **th** **one, and I had other things to do then just look over my mountains of chapters I haven't looked over. Actually, I have almost 10 chapters written, after this 9** **th** **chapter is posted. So, yeah. I will prewarn you guys that I spent some time describing the stuff at the base Violet resides in, only to have her leave. Why? I ran out of ideas, and I wanted a fresh new start in a different location.**

 **That's kind of why I was going to end everything here at part 2, but I may be doing a part 3. This part is an 'in between' parter, and there's a particular climax/resolution to this story that'll wrap it all up at the end. The question is how to get from point A to, well now, about point E… or F… or R. Whatever. I added a bunch of elements in this part 2 that I want to wrap up in part 3. Some of it will be left up in the air, but a few little things I need to take some time doing/working on. So, yeah. There's probably going to be a part 3. In fact, it's probably going to happen, definitely. I just don't know how long THIS part will take. Depends if I throw some of the elements in this part into the next part. But I only plan on having 3 parts anyways. So need to worry about this story being too long. I'm NOT aiming for 100+ chapters. No way. But I will admit, I am happy I've gotten so much done, so far. Usually by now I would have given up interest, but the fact that I wrote chapters ahead of time, and when I review my chapters I draw inspiration from them, then it's not too hard to keep continuing.**

 **Plus, well, there's more stories about pokemon out, in general, that can inspire me/motivate me to keep writing. That's about it! ENJOY this chapter and hopefully I'll post the next one soon enough! If not, ENJOY the rest of your week!**

! #$%^&*()

A deep throated groan of agony left your breath as you sat on a couch, putting down the book you had in your hands.

Your grandfather wasn't backing down. He hired a few tutors, those loyal to him, apparently, to tutor you in a basic education. The plan? That you'll be given the same education a child your age would have at a local public school, and then some. To surpass that expectant intelligence and have the developed mind of a university student, before your tenth birthday.

It was very stressful. At least in the subjects you were struggling with.

You never were good with math. Science, you can understand, but math, no way! If you don't know where to apply the equations then how in the world are you supposed to remember what it's all used for? At least with science, all you have to deal with is the science math, which you understand why you're using it, but it was still very difficult.

Reading and writing you kind of already know, but now you're reading very hard books, written by dead guys and gals you're vaguely aware of. Your literature course is… decent enough, but your history class is so interesting.

If you had to pick, you'd probably do art and your physical training courses all day, with history coming in a solid third… second place. Art is always fun. It lets your mind unwind a bit as you come up with new and creative things to make with your own two hands. Your physical training, you're learning how to box and spare with other people. It gets your body moving, your blood pumping through your veins. It's a lot of fun.

And history… there is so much history out there that you cannot wait to explore. Ancient, medieval, modern; there's a lot.

And your music teacher… is a pain. He wants you to learn the violin, and honestly, you don't see the point in that. It's just a pain.

But you suppose you'd have to suffer all of this if you were still in school in Azalea… but not as intense.

There is so much homework for you to do. So much that you barely have time to do anything else, let alone eat every meal. You wouldn't be surprised if your basically structured courses will soon change to more… obscure lessons, like how to rob a person without them noticing. Just how much are you going to learn?

But… you're enduring this. Why? Because your grandfather wants you to.

You know at the end of the day your grandfather just wants what is best for you. You're beginning to realize that more and more, even if he doesn't say it right to your face. He… indirectly cares, like your father does… did…

All these lessons, these tutors are a good distraction when it comes to your father and your need to find out more. More about a past you were never told, just barely began to uncover. There is so much you don't know… and… your plans to find out more have had to fall to the waste side because of these tutors always showing up, always cramming more stuff down your throat, hoping it'll reach your brain.

You are right. These tutors of yours are mainly suck ups. Mainly trying to keep your grandfather happy, in one way or another.

A deep sigh left your breath as you stood up, walking into your kitchen and grabbing a cup of water before sitting back down, in front of your work.

At least you don't have to see these people **every** day. It's all spaced out, at least, so it's not too overwhelming for you.

But then again, you do like a challenge, and keeping track of your schedule and caring about your time management is certainly a challenge. Even if you'd rather ignore all of this instead of continuing to endure and suffer this brain crushing torment.

You don't know how long you sat there, studying, taking notes, writing in books and binders to complete your homework, until the door slid open and you heard footsteps walking into the apartment space. You didn't even look to see who it was, knowing that if Spirit wasn't growling and if Don wasn't glaring, then it was a trusted human that wouldn't do you any real harm. "How's the studying, Viola?" you heard your grandfather ask as he walked into the kitchen to grab something.

"Hard. Tiring… mainly tiring," you responded, not even bothering to ask him how his day was as you continued to scribble in a book, a tired look on your face as you slumped into the plush couch.

You barely took notice as he wandered to the living room, holding a cup in his hand as he noticed the irritated look the honchkrow was giving him, and the way your eevee had slumped his head onto your lap, staring at you bored while you worked on your assignments. His eyes wandered at the books you had laying out, some opened and some closed. An unorganized mess of knowledge spread all over the coffee table in front of the couch.

You felt him put his hand on your head, rustling up your matted hair before slumping into the couch beside you, sipping a glass filled with red wine, you realized, as he stared at the far wall with a thoughtful look on his face. You were surprised that he didn't turn on the tv and become a big distraction, but he seemed to be lost in his thoughts, and you turned away to ignore him and get back to your work.

Only for the book that you were reading to be ripped away from your lap. "H-hey! –"

"The history of the Kanto region?" your grandfather asked, only for you to huff in annoyance as you snatched the textbook away from him and placed it back upon your lap. "… You look stressed, child."

"Oh wow. _Really~?_ I didn't notice," you snorted, slumping your arm onto the armrest as you stared at the letters upon the bland page. "… I'm taking this seriously, alright?"

"Okay, okay," he chuckled lightly, sipping his wine and turning his head away from you as he looked at a far-off wall, attempting to ignore you.

Yet he lingered, right beside you, which began to distract you from what you were trying to do. You're used to people leaving you alone, eventually, and you're weary of those who drink alcohol. But… your anxiety slowly diminished into a smolder as you continued to work, your thoughts on the homework and assignments that are due tomorrow, and perhaps getting ahead of some assignments that are due two to three days from now.

You don't know how long it took for you to finally put your book down. A yawn left your breath as you rubbed your sore eyes, and you stood to your feet, stretching your arms to get rid of the stiffness. "… Done?" you heard your grandfather ask and you turned to notice Robbie was slumped at the man's feet, trapping him from escaping the couch by his broad body, while he had a book in his hands, casually reading the contents inside.

"A-ah… with that assignment, yes."

"How much homework did those idiots give you?" your grandfather snarled slightly, letting his book fall onto his lap as Robbie lifted his head curiously from his paws, wondering if he's going to have to move from the comfortable spot or not.

"This shouldn't surprise you, grandpa. I mean, even at school teachers tend to give their students mountains of homework. I'm just… a bit slower at figuring this all out, right now. But I swear I'll get used to it –"

"How much homework do you still have to do?" he decided to ask, and you huffed underneath your breath to glance at your scattered books.

"Maybe another hour –"

"Well, skip it," he told you, though it sounded like an order, but you turned to him and gave him a raised eyebrow.

"Oh? What is this? You want me to give up on my responsibilities, grandpa?"

"Ah… no, but –"

"I can handle this, I assure you –"

"I honestly don't doubt that, but if you're still doing homework at nine at night, and you had all day to do this, then this is unacceptable. Especially since I can tell your tutors to hold off on the work," he huffed, your eyes glancing over at the wall clock to realize that, yes, he was right. It was already nine twenty one at night.

"You don't… have to give me special privileges and stuff, but if you really want to…" you decided to say, but before you could fully finish your thought you watched as the man stood to his feet, his persian quickly stepping away with a huff leaving his breath, and you watched as your grandfather began to stretch his arms and yawn, as well. "… You weren't waiting for me, were you?"

"You wait for me all of the time. We both need dinner, right? But before all of that, I want to teach you a little something," he smirked slyly, and you gave him an unsure look, but before you could really question your grandfather he picked up a nearby phone, phoning the night cooks and telling them that the Boss wants dinner, and that it'll be delivered to the training facilities on the -4 level. "Okay. Let's go," he told you, shifting to put on a nearby jet black jacket, and you noticed his white collared shirt was untucked, his eyes looked tired, but he seemed to have this grin upon his face that made you wonder if he's drunk or just excited.

"… I don't have a choice, do I?" you asked the persian, who shrugged at you as Spirit began to follow behind you, giving the three of you a curious look before looking up to the honchkrow to hear what he thinks about the situation. "… He's not drunk, is he? –"

"Tipsy, but not drunk. I've seen worse," Rob smirked lightly at you, before gripping the edge of your shirt and pulling you forward, causing you to sigh and follow after your grandfather, as you scooped up one of your many coats and quickly slipped it over your tank top shirt.

)(*&^%$# !

"Why are we here?" you asked calmly as you both stood in the middle of a large stadium-like room, the roof high and the walls wide with bleachers off to the side. Like most of the training facilities in the building, they were all closed by about eight, and some human training rooms stay open till ten. But you know from your tour that this room is used for training up one's pokemon. "… Grandpa?"

"Hmm? Oh. I'll tell you," he smirked deviously at you, but you gave him a questionable look as you felt Spirit nuzzling his head up against your leg, hoping to calm down your uncertain nerves. "But first… Come and show yourselves, guys!" Giovanni shouted as he threw up five pokeballs, appearing almost out of thin air from his pockets, somewhere.

You watched in awe as five massive ground types appeared before you, all of them looking ready for battle.

That is, until they realized there was no opponent, and turned slowly to look at the two humans standing behind them, staring at their human master questionably. "This is my granddaughter, Silver's girl. Her name is Viola, and you be good to her," your grandfather stated, a hand upon your back as he pushed you slightly forward, and you looked up nervously at the massive pokemon before you.

But your anxiety simmered when they all let out excited cries, causing the ground to rumble and you to yelp slightly at the tremor. You were surprised that your grandfather wasn't jostled by the sudden movement, and you turned to look up at him with wide eyes. "So, you raised these pokemon? O-or did you steal them?"

"While Team Rocket steals for the good of the team, I prefer to raise my own pokemon," he smirked slyly. "At least my ground types."

"And Rob? –"

" **Robert** has been with me even before I began my journey as a child. He may be useless in battle," Giovanni smirked, grinning at the growl his persian was giving him as he continued confidently, "but for all of the little problems, he can handle his own. Plus, he can walk about the base with ease, while everyone else cannot."

"I see," you decided to respond, giving all of the pokemon curious looks as they all stared at you, a few staring you down while others were curious about this new little human that can cause their usually grumbling master to talk to them with such ease and gleefulness.

"But my persian is the only one with a human name," he continued calmly, gesturing to his other pokemon. "The rhyperior, nidoqueen, and nidoking have been on my team since my gym leader days, the rhyperior ages before that. And I've recently raised a garchomp and female hippowdon."

"So you **were** a gym leader?" you asked in a curious tone, causing him to give you a suspicious look. "C-cause I wasn't sure."

"Yes!" he grinned proudly. "The Viridian City Gym. I was a ground-type gym leader. Do you know how the gym has been since I left?"

"W-well… Uncle Green had been the gym leader for a while, but recently the gym is vacant," you told him, shrugging your shoulders at the questionable look on your grandfather's face. "He's taking on his father's duties as regional professor, and considering the job is demanding, he had to give up his gym leader status. Actually, I-I think Auntie Yellow shows up to the gym at times to take on trainers, but usually they don't have the gym open, at all."

"Interesting… Well, the League will find someone eventually," he shrugged, turning to glance at his pokemon with a sly grin upon his face. "Viridian is the last city a trainer goes to, before reaching the League Gates. After that, they have to go through Victory Road to reach the Indigo Plateau. They usually have a strong trainer residing over the gym… _and~_ that's why I was the gym leader for so long," he smirked deviously at the memory, but you gave him a light smile in response.

"Ah… b-but Team Rocket. How could you balance all of that?" you had to ask, and he sighed regrettably in response.

"I couldn't. eventually, the team had to come first, so I only had the gym open one month out of the year, before the Championship started, which meant I'd spend all day receiving trainers. I made it a rule that a trainer needed seven badges, at least, or possibly six to come into my gym. And eventually… I stopped appearing at the gym, and then that ten year old boy showed up and –"

"Uncle Red clobbered you," you smirked slyly, and you giggled at the huffy noise your grandfather made. "Do you… regret all of that?"

"I stretched my time and resources too thin. I needed a break from everything. Being defeated, while I hate to admit that I was, helped me realize that I needed to figure out what was truly important to me. The team was my mother's business, and I was just dragged into the mess," he sighed, reaching up to pet his rhyperior and he seemed to purr happily as he was patted on the side of his rough face. "But, I had to grow up eventually. Being a pokemon trainer amounted to nothing in the end, and unless you're good at it you don't earn a lot of money. Being a gym leader gave me a nice cover, but at the time the League wasn't as organized as it is now… So… while I don't like being defeated, I suppose I learned from that experience. Plus, it gave me an excuse to abandon the team for a while and see how they'd operate without me. Not very well, actually," he chuckled lightly, turning to you with a gleam on his face that made you pout at him.

"But enough about that. Just how much did Silver tell you about our red eyes?" he asked curiously, pointing up to his dark brown eye and you shrugged in response.

"A-ah… not much. Just that it's a curse. It has something to do with aura, and if you don't keep your emotions in check it could unleash and bring a disaster."

"That isn't false, but not true either," he told you calmly. You watched as he suddenly turned to his rhyperior, the two of them glaring at each other as the other five pokemon began to back away. You could feel Robert grabbing the edge of your pantleg with his teeth, expecting you to follow him as you backed away, towards the sidelines and towards the bleachers.

" _Here it comes~"_

"What's coming? –"

You barely managed a surprised yelp as the rhyperior slammed his fist into your grandfather's body, but was strangely blocked by his outstretched arm. Your eyes widened in shock and worry at the thin red glow of aura energy you could visibly see emitting out from your grandfather's outstretched arm and hand. Then, you saw your grandfather moving his other arm, also glowing red, as he slammed it into the rhyperior's face, sending him flying across the room. But the rhyperior managed to slide his knees into the ground, stopping himself from hitting the far wall.

"Without the right training, like any pokemon learning a set of skills, you won't learn how to use your abilities. Our family in particular has a strong amount of aura energy pulsating through our veins," you could hear your grandfather speak casually, his hand upon his hip as he talked with a snarky look on his face. "You know the boy Marko, right? His glowing yellow eyes? Same principle, but different ways to trigger similar results. The difference between us and, say, a black belt is that we can unleash a raw emotional energy, concentrate it, and slam it back into the face of our enemies. It catches them by surprise," he smirked slyly, turning his attention to his rhyperior as he began to stomp his way back over to his trainer, glaring down at him as he calmly stared up at his battle-ready companion. "… You know of gym leader Sabrina?"

"Ah… y-yeah!" you spoke, realizing he was talking to you. "Of course. We've talked, before. She's a very cryptic person."

"Psychics are another example. They show the pure, untapped potential of a human being. We're like pokemon in a way, with different sets of skills and abilities that only need to be harnessed and tapped into. You're a special case, as was I when I was a child," he decided to say, turning to you and staring at you from across the middle of the gym room. "But, unlike my mother, I'm going to try to help you figure out your own aura skills."

"Ah… r-really? Why?" you had to ask, and he grinned and turned back to stare up at his rhyperior.

"I spent a lot of wasted time trying to figure everything out. What I can do, what is most effective… what truly makes me different. Not only do we have our family curse, but we also have the gift of Viridian Forest. Sure, helping pokemon, healing them and such, can be helpful, but what I took away is that I can hear pokemon speak the truth, while humans tend to lie.

"I bet you already know that," he turned to you with a smirk and you gave him a hesitant nod in return. "We aren't… normal. Never will be, never should assume we can be. I prefer ground types," he smirked up at his rhyperior who was now sitting down, bored with this monologue speech his opponent was giving. "Strong, powerful, and grounded in reality. They push forward and never look backward… I brought you down here to show you there are different ways to train your pokemon, in ways other humans would be afraid of doing.

"But I absolutely love it," Giovanni grinned deviously, and you concluded that, yeah, he's drunk. There's no way he'd be telling you all of this if he wasn't drunk. "Hand to hand combat. Why do you think I'm having you take boxing lessons?"

"Because you like the style?" you shrugged and he chuckled in response.

"Perhaps, but when it comes to pokemon, they charge head on, unless they're say, a psychic type. So, in order to calm down a pokemon is to face them, head on. Humans are like that too, but we cannot confront each other physically, usually," he told you, suddenly holding up his fists as the rhyperior stood up, grinning deviously as his master stood ready for another punch.

"… Is he just drunk or is what he's saying true?" you had to ask, leaning down to speak to Robert as he gave you a smirk in return.

"He's a bit tipsy, but he does like to train his pokemon hands on, like this," Rob smirked, watching as you flinched at the way the rhyperior sent strong, pummeling blows at your grandfather, but he didn't seem fazed at all, and was right back on his feet, charging the pokemon and sending him down into the ground, with a relatively strange ease. "… They're just roughhousing. Playing around. If Gio was going to truly fight his pokemon he wouldn't be such a chatter box," he told you, and you sighed, slowly turning to look at his other pokemon, and noticing the excited looks on their faces. "… These days, this is the only time the guy sends out his other pokemon. No gym challenges, no real confrontations. Just good old beating each other up into bloody messes.

"So trivial," you heard Rob snort, but you smirked, walking up to his other pokemon as they began to look over at you with curious looks on their faces.

"C-can I try that? Looks like fun," you smiled at the other pokemon, who gave you unsure looks, until the nidoqueen smiled sweetly at you, and suddenly picked you up, causing you to yelp in surprise.

"Oooooh! Such the cutest little human child! Nidoking! Look at her!"

"Yes, yes. She's adorable, but don't break her –"

"She looks a bit thin, though. We need to fatten her up," you heard the dark skinned hippowdon say while the garchomp huffed underneath his breath.

"Nah. Starve the girl to death. Then she'll rip apart everything in her path –"

"You're all so mean!" the nidoqueen whined, and you groaned slightly underneath your breath as she gripped you a little tighter in her embrace.

"A-ah… okay, but –"

"Come on, nidoqueen. The young one wants a challenge. Let's show her one," the nidoking stated with a smirk, suddenly grabbing the nidoqueen's arm and pulling her out into the middle of the gym, but far away from the rhyperior, considering they didn't want to be blown back by such a powerful pokemon. "Set the girl down and we'll show her what us nidos can do."

"Ooooo! Sounds fun!" she giggled, happily setting you down, but your eevee was right at your side in an instant, giving the two poison types unsure glances as they began to come up with some sort of plan.


	11. CH10: Learning to Live

**A/N: HEY GUYS! Sorry that I haven't posted anything for… wow. I think it's almost been 2 months now. Well, I got into a bit of a slump, and tax season was upon me and that stressed me out. My finances are complete crap, so either I'm too tired from work or too lazy when I'm not working. I was actually coming up with story ideas for Kuroshitsuji, but I never did start posting any of those stories online. Oh well!**

 **Plus, I needed a bit of a break. I got a bit of writer's block when it came to this story, but I think I've figured something out! At least, where the story will be going and how I'll possibly end it. I know the ending. It's just how I'll get there. I decided to change the location, which meant creating new OCs and side plots and stuff like that, but yeah. That's where I'm at.**

 **I'm also writing a Violet OC story from a Crystal playthrough I'm currently doing. Only two pokemon have died in that, so far, but it's getting harder and harder for me, now that I've reached the very last badge. Those dragon trainers sure are bothersome! But Crystal was the first pokemon game I ever completed, though I didn't know when I was a kid Kanto was the entire postgame content. I just thought I won the league and that was that. But, yeah. For me, Crystal is very nostalgic for me to play, so I'm playing the game MY way. I don't think the story I started on my wattpad account is truly my canon story, but just a side story. An 'alternate' universe, as it were.**

 **And before I stop blabbing, I still have the next phase of my OC story posted on the wattpad account. If you guys have any Rocket OCs please comment there, or comment here. I don't care, but NO ONE has commented any OCs, so… yeah. I guess that's fine and all, but my OC names are becoming more and more generic. It'd be nice to have some creativity in my stories, and I swear I'd credit your OCs.**

 **Okay. I think that's it for now. I don't think there's much to say for this upcoming chapter, so ENJOY!**

! #$%^&*()

When a young Rocket grunt showed up, carting a bunch of food with a tired look on his face, he couldn't help but pause at the sight before him.

There was his Boss, fighting with a determined rhyperior and angry looking garchomp, and strangely enough, he looked to be having the upper hand. And then there was a girl, giggling uncontrollably, as she was held upside down by a nidoking, with a nidoqueen jumping around beside them at the sight. A glossy coat persian, gray furred eevee, and a blackened hippowdon were lazily sitting by the bleachers, that is, until they looked over to notice the boy had shown up, and he watched in confusion as the persian mewed, and that light meow, barely heard by him, was enough for the Boss to stop his fists from flying. "Who? Oh, you," Giovanni huffed as he turned to his nidoqueen and nidoking. "Viola, dinner's here!"

"Uh huh!" the girl giggled, squirming as the nidoking's long claws tickled her stomach, but her giggling fit died down as she was slowly set down on the ground, only to be picked up by the nidoqueen and nuzzled against her cheek. "A-aigh! Hey, food! Let go, please!"

The grunt was surprised as the nidoqueen seemed to be whining, but put the child down, after her one little request. He couldn't help but wonder who this girl is, to command the Boss' pokemon in such a manner, as she rushed across the wooden planks, stopping beside the Boss with a goofy, yet tired, grin on her face; her short dark brownish/black hair a total mess, and her face bright red from laughing too hard. And probably because of all of the blood that had rushed to her head as she was held upside down.

"You can hand out the pokefood –"

"I'll help!" the girl exclaimed, confusing the grunt for a moment until he yelped, a large bowl that was in his hands being snatched from him, as she rushed to the bleachers and set the bowl in front of the hippowdon. The ground type yawned in response, standing up on all four of her stubby legs to lean forward and start chowing down on the food, but as the girl returned to the cart the Boss held forward his hand, stopping the girl from getting close to the cart.

"Let the boy do his job. Besides, aren't you hungry, child?"

"Eh? Me? Not really," she shrugged in response, but Giovanni could only sigh deeply in response.

"Si, you are. Don't lie. Thank you, grunt," the Boss stated, bluntly, and the boy quickly bowed his head.

"Y-yes! Of course, sir! –"

"You can go now," Giovanni told the grunt, watching him scurry quickly away, though he was curiously looking behind his back at the pokemon, and the girl in particular, before vanishing out of one of the double doors that led into the large gymnasium.

"… That was harsh," you decided to say as you sat on the bleachers, watching as your grandfather turned to look at you with a raised eyebrow and you shrugged your shoulders at his response. "What?"

"So, did the nidos teach you anything good?" you heard your grandfather ask as he took a couple of the pokebowls off of the cart, and you quickly rushed over to him with a light smile, grabbing a bowl and holding it with both hands as you rushed after him.

"Y-yeah! Well… actually I just felt the blood rush rapidly to my head," you chuckled nervously, and the man smirked in return.

"Ah… Viola can we have a talk?" you heard your grandfather ask, and you couldn't help but give him a curious.

"O-of course?" you responded with an unsure tone in your voice, but you knelt down in front of the persian, placing the food in front of his face as you ran your hand over the top of his head, before turning to look over at your grandfather with a curious look on your face. "Is there a problem?"

"Hmm? No problem," he told you, but you could tell he looked unhappy about something.

You were a bit irked that your grandfather wanted to talk to you, but then went about ignoring you as he placed food in front of his pokemon, and then in front of you. The two of you sat in silence on the bleachers, staring off at the far wall as you ate your food. You had to admit, the food was pretty good.

But then again… this unsettling silence reminded you of when your father wanted to talk to you about something important, but then never did utter a word.

So you initiated the conversation, like you always had to do.

You sighed, deeply, in an irritated tone of voice, hoping it snapped your grandfather out of his thoughts as you continued somberly, "So… what is it?"

"What's –"

"What is this serious thing you need to talk about?" you turned to him with a pout on your face and a glare in your eyes. "… You're acting like dad did when he had something serious to say. So? What is it?"

"I am, huh?" he smirked in response, but you watched as his grin faded away to be replaced with a thoughtful look on his face.

That's when you realized just how old and tired he looked. He had wrinkles starting to deepen all over his face, slight gray hairs beginning to show underneath his dark brown hairs, though it seemed to you that he also dyed his hair. So you began to wonder how long he's been dying his wisps of gray locks of hairs. He had black bags underneath his eyes that wasn't very noticeable until he let his features soften, and you know that look in his eyes. He was tired, very tired. And whatever was bothering him was wearing him thin… probably.

"… Do you like it here?" he began, and while you had a feeling that wasn't the question he wanted to ask, you decided to answer.

"I guess," you shrugged as you bit down on an apple, realizing just how hungry you actually are as you continued to munch on the sweet fruit in your hand.

"Guess? Do you not like it here? I can understand why you don't –"

"Fine," you huffed, deciding to just be blatantly obvious to push the conversation along. "Honestly? It's boring. I'm bored. I hate being cooped up in a room all day. I'm used to having free range. Roaming the woods and such. Not having clean, outside air is irritating, for me.

"But… I mean… sure there are some people here I'm weary about, but I don't fear my own death as much as I did on my own," you honestly told him with a shrug as you munched on your apple with a thoughtful look on your face. "I'm still processing everything, if I'm going to be honest. The person I used to be… that girl is dead. I-I just can't be that happy and carefree anymore. I don't know what I'm becoming and while I'm open to it, I'm also terrified."

"I see," he decided to say, but before he could say more you continued with a light smile on your face.

"But I don't **hate** being here. I'm here because of you."

"Is that so?" he questioned you as you smiled meekly in response.

"Y-yeah. That's why I left with daddy. I-I didn't want to let go. I'm… scared of that… I knew some people, some friends in Goldenrod. I think I fear the fact that some are… gone now. Dead. Vanished. Disappeared from my life, permanently. I-if someone I know dies, I-I want to know. I want to be there.

"But it's scary. A-and I don't want anyone to die, either. I just know it'll eventually happen… That's just how it is," you told him, honestly, and you could tell he didn't like the fact you were talking about such morbid things.

"Plus… I mean, heck, this is Team Rocket for crying out loud. This big deal criminal organization, known for the baddiest of the bad! I don't know if that's true or not, but I figured letting some of that… roughness rub off on me would do me more good than bad."

"You think?" he asked and you shrugged your shoulders in response.

"I don't want to be weak anymore. To be on the sidelines while I watch those I care about get into any sort of harm. Honestly… I-I am a bit reckless when it comes to my own wellbeing. I know that. Just… I-I'm tired of watching others get hurt because of me. I don't want to be the reason why others are harmed," you pouted, looking up at him with a tired look on your face. "I stay cause, indirectly or not, I know I'll learn something useful. Honestly, if I had any reason to conclude that I'm not making progress with myself, then I would have left days ago. That's the truth."

"Well… at least you're being honest," he decided to say, and you glanced over at him with an annoyed look on your face, but you stopped looking so annoyed when you heard him huff in response. "Being associated with Team Rocket, in any sort of way, will always bring you harm, Viola."

"Maybe, but shouldn't I just accept the fact that no matter where I go or what I do I'll still be in danger? What's the point of ignoring the problem? I might as well accept those facts and try to move forward –"

"Exactly. Moving forward. I don't see why you think staying in this team will help you. If you get strong, with the methods you can only learn from criminals, you'll lose a piece of yourself."

"I'm already losing pieces of myself. I just don't know what I'll end up being at the end of the day," you shrugged your shoulders before sighing and running a hand through you long, rather messy hair. "… I feel like you don't want me around. You're always trying to make excuses to push me away and make me leave. I don't get it."

"It's not like that –"

"Then what?" you huffed in response, glaring up at him with narrowed, slightly glowing reddish/blue eyes. "I'm tired of adults assuming I don't know what I'm doing. I do! –"

"Perhaps you **think** that, but you're being reckless. Trust me. Not putting other people's opinions into consideration will only make the situations worse," He smirked at you, causing you to pout and turn away, glaring at the far wall with your arms crossed over your chest. "… The Team Rocket lifestyle isn't fun. It's grueling, stressful… it takes a lot out of you. Sometimes I wonder if I'm seen as a monster or a god these days… but never a man. It's a strange experience to hold power over people, and then realize it's only out of spite or fear that you hold that power in the first place.

"It's not like I don't want you around, Viola. I don't want you to learn what it means to be in Team Rocket. There's a reason why your father was so adamant on staying away from me. Why he wouldn't have wanted you here, if he were alive. But," he continued, running a sweaty hand through his hair, pushing back the locks of hair that threatened to spill over his eyes and frame his face as he let a thoughtful look appear on his stressed features, "personally, I don't think placing you anywhere else would be wise. My enemies probably know that there's a kid around that I'm highly affectionate for, and if I were to stick you with some friend your father knew, you'd still have to be watched. Everything that happened, with your mother and father, and why that aunt of yours fled the region… well… it'll just repeat itself.

"I want to give you a good life, but here? That's hard to do. I'm sorry that I cannot provide for you. That I cannot be there. I know that I'm failing you and I'm sorry about that."

You frowned, glancing over at your grandfather as he stared sternly across the gymnasium at the wall, and you pouted to yourself at his words. "I… I-I know I will be a pain. I-I've been holding back, but… I feel better that you're around and I'm not alone, anymore," you decided to honestly tell him, noticing out of the corner of your eyes he was looking at you, but you continued in a soft and unsure tone of voice. "J-just… I'm frustrated and angry, and scared and desperate. I-I want to get stronger, and I'm scared about the end results. I'm scared that you'll die too a-and I'll be alone, again… I want to belong somewhere. I just don't know where I can, anymore," you huffed, putting your head in your hands as you sat your knees up to your chest, pouting as you loomed at the far off wall in thought.

"I don't know how I feel, knowing everything. Trying to process it all. I-I feel… better, I guess. More scared, sure, but I'm not as afraid as I was when I was running for my life and didn't know who was even chasing me. At least… I have a sense of direction, I guess. I just know you want something out of me I-I cannot give, and others want something that I cannot give. Everyone wants something out me, a-and I'm just… a kid.

"What can a kid do?" you pouted, slumping your head into your knees as you fought back the desire to cry.

But, as you felt an arm wrapping around your shoulder, bringing you closer to a chest, you couldn't help but feel your anger and frustrations start to leak out. And you began to cry.

You told yourself you wouldn't be this weak, but here you are, crying.

The moment you started, you couldn't stop, but you felt a great comfort in knowing that the one who was holding you wasn't some stranger. Not anymore… at least.

)(*&^%$# !

Life became relatively dull, rather quickly. Not that you're complaining too much about that, but you're used to some excitement, and around here… it wasn't.

It was very boring.

Every other day, instead of every day, you'd wake up, get dressed, maybe wake up early enough to see your grandfather drinking his cup of coffee before walking out the door, and then get yourself organized, eat some breakfast, as you waited for someone to come to the door.

You know all your tutors now, so they aren't some stranger that you cannot recognize.

But once one of them would arrive, you'd take your backpack with your homework and textbooks for the day, your pokeballs, and your eevee, for Don would rather sleep for hours on end then go with you, and you'd leave the room and start down the hallway towards an office room.

Which has been turned into a tutoring/classroom for you.

This one-on-one tutoring is, well, you have to admit, not too bad. Now that you don't feel overwhelmed, you can spend more time understanding the material then trying to finish it. Some teachers you liked, others you becoming irked by, but you know, for them, it's just a job, a job that could bring them a bit closer to the Boss, somehow.

But for you, you are a gal who likes to learn. The last time you've been in school was before your mother died, and before you went off with your father to roam around the regions. It took you some time to get back into the studying mindset, but it didn't take you too long to do so.

But now… you have more free time then you were expecting.

It took some time, but your grandfather agreed to give you an ID/access card so you could roam around the base on your own, and not be thrown out for being an intruder. At least here, everyone who has come and gone has figured out you've belonged, and if they didn't think so, and tried to force you out the door, some other agent would tell them not to. For fear of the Boss' wrath.

You're kind of curious what this 'wrath' is, but honestly, it's like a game for you.

To see who is 'new' here and thinks you're some intruder. You'll even pretend to sneak around the base, just to see who actually looks your way and is paying attention.

But, there are certain places you cannot get into, with your ID card. It works a bit differently compared to the other ID cards, but not every place is your instant domain. The labs down below, where you know pokemon are being held captive… and humans, probably, as well, and a few randomly restricted places throughout the building. You assume one or two of them have to do with security, and you have no real reason to be where the grunts and agents live in the underground levels, so you don't have instant access to those levels, either.

But, that doesn't mean you cannot figure out a way to do so.

Some places, you don't need the Rocket ID card and access card to open the doors, especially where the agents hang out. So, you've stolen an access card or two, and can easily get in. Though, at the end of the week you've shown the cards that you've stolen to your grandfather. The first time, it was a mistake. He caught you flipping through the cards and cutting up the ones that had expired, but now, it's another game. You feel bad that there are agents out there getting yelled at by their Boss because some snot nosed kid stole their card, but then again, **they** don't know who stole it. So it's kind of amusing, in a way.

And your grandfather doesn't seem mad at all that you can steal these cards in the first place. In fact, to you, he seemed a bit proud about that.

But this is a secret he's kept with you, or at least that's what he says.

The executives would pop up every so often, saying hi, but most of the time they are out on missions, at different bases for one reason or another.

You've come to realize just how boring your grandfather's life is. It's practically just an office job. He wakes up, goes to his big shiny office, and does paperwork and conference calls all day. The only exciting thing is when some exciting, high ranking person shows up, and on those days, if you can, you'll try to sneak into his office to take a peek, only to be formally let in by your grandfather and forced to sit behind him, to watch.

Always watching. Never speaking, unless he gives you a look or asks you a question, specifically.

But now, your own days have become rather dull. You keep yourself excited by exploring, and now that you have access to the training rooms, you'll go down there after your classes or at dusk, when hopefully there aren't a lot of people there, and on occasion your grandfather joins you, or shows up to tell you to come eat dinner with him.

Dinner seems to be the only meal the two of you eat together, if you're trying, and you wonder if he eats anything other than that one meal.

But today is a free day for you. You can do whatever you want! So, you slept in till your honchkrow alarm went off around eleven, and then you got yourself ready for the day, in casual and warm clothes, before taking Spirit and his pokeball with you as you made your way out of the apartment space. You always had to keep Spirit in his pokeball whenever you travel, but it's nice to know there's a friend in your pocket, in case there's trouble.

"Good morning, Nate, sir," you spoke as you reached the disgusting plastic scratched screens and bins filled with food, your eyes looking up at the head cook as he glanced over to notice you, giving you a crude smirk.

"Ah! Good morning, Violet, but don't you think it's a bit late for a 'good morning'?"

"It's morning for me," you huffed, rubbing your sore eye as he chuckled in amusement at your sass.

It took some time for you to break out of your shy shell and actually start bantering with the man, and ever since, you cannot help but enjoy making your way to the cafeteria for a meal, even if you only want a cup of juice or a can of soda. This guy just brings out your more sarcastic nature, which, honestly, is pleasant for you.

You haven't been yourself in a long time. That's for sure.

"What can we get started for you?" he smirked at your irritation, but you shrugged your shoulders in reply.

"Don't know. What do you got?"

"Got? We have leftover scrambled eggs and pancakes. Right now, we're serving lunch. Grilled cheese sandwiches with tomato soup and a salad."

"Oh… I wouldn't mind some of those scrambled eggs and a couple of grilled cheese," you told him, but he rolled his eyes and pointed his finger at you.

"And some salad."

"Okay. Salad too," you responded with a meek, yet tired smile, but your smile grew a bit wider as you heard the cook laughing at you.

"Good. Go sit down and I'll have someone bring out the food for ya," Nate grinned, walking off to get his work done as you glanced around and turned your attention to the beverage station.

You grabbed some juice, since you weren't in the mood to drink soda, yet, and a blueberry muffin before snatching plastic utensils and napkins and sitting down at a random table. In the far off corner of the cafeteria, out of the way, but with enough space that you, hope, no one will notice you're sitting there right away.

With a sigh, you began to munch on your muffin as you felt your hunger starting to rise, noticing there were only a few grunts sitting about, mainly at one full table chatting with one another. It's a bit late for breakfast, but too early for most to be showing up for lunch, so you didn't expect a crowd.

Just the way you liked it.

"Here's your food, kid," one of the cooks told you to get your attention, and you gave the man a tired smile in return.

"Thanks," you answered with a smile, watching as the man seemed to smile back and walk away, back to his job.

You have to admit, it took a while for others to actually start talking to you, too. For a long time, you were just seen as this kid who the Boss seems to care about, and if someone simply sneezes at you then they'll be sent to the Boss' office, and never seen again. At least, that's one of many rumors that circulated around you.

Some think you are some illegitimate child of Giovanni's, while others speculate you're some up and coming heir, for one reason or another. But either way, it's clear that the Boss cares about this kid that popped up out of nowhere. So, they treat you as if you are the plague. They acknowledge your existence, but they don't want to associate with you, for fear of being on the Boss' bad side.

But that's so boring! And only talking to adults about boring things is getting on your nerves.

You made plans in your head, as you chewed on your sandwich, that you'll probably train Spirit, today. You want to build up your eevee's skillset, possibly get him to evolve, but it's hard to do that. You don't want to evolve your eevee with an evolutionary stone, you told your grandfather that, so it comes down to three known forms of eevee: an espeon, an umbreon, or a sylveon… You just want Spirit to be happy with himself, honestly. You don't care about what your grandfather thinks, or what Archer keeps blabbing about. You'll train your pokemon your way, not their way.

And if you are given good advice then maybe you'll use it, but you honestly don't care about what they tell you, when it comes to training.

But then again, your grandfather used to be the Viridian City Gym Leader, a feared gym leader for his army of ground types. Who could easily stomp out the competition, barely letting one or two trainers through to the Championships. Most trainers would avoid Viridian for that reason, and only pass through the city once they have eight badges, from other gyms.

And then the gym would stay closed for months, until the last month or two before the Championship.

So, you'll listen to your grandfather and his advice, but will you take it all?... No.

You'd rather have your eevee evolve through friendship then forcefully through an evolution stone. Okay, so Spirit really doesn't care when or if he evolves at all, but you care. It's about principles. Plus, eevees can evolve into all sorts of cool and awesome pokemon, but you wouldn't mind an espeon… or umbreon, or some cool fairy type sylveon.

And Archer thinks you haven't done your research. You've done plenty! Especially on eevees, ever since your mum let Spirit stay you've done your research on eevees, their evolutions, and how to help them get stronger, and stay healthy. All of it was during your own free time.

You couldn't help but snort underneath your breath as you thought about Archer.

He was expecting too much from you. As if you're some mini-Giovanni. You just know how to respect, or rather manipulate, people because your mother taught you to be polite to your elders. That doesn't mean you listen to them, though. Just respect them.

Completely different.

However, before you could start brooding too much over your personal problems, you noticed someone entering the cafeteria, which made you leap out of your seat and run as fast as you could, sliding across the floor, to the swinging double doors.

! #$%^&*()

 _si_ – [Italian] "yes"

 **CLIFFHANGER! Well, not really, but we'll see if I post the next chapter soon or not. Hopefully sooner rather than later, but I do plan on posting more of this story up.**


	12. CH11: Testing Relationships

**A/N: Meh! I decided to post another chapter after I got back from my doctor's appointment. Reviewed it last night, but figured I should post at least one more chapter before I start spending more time on writing the story as a whole. I'm not quite sure just how long everything will be. I'll probably split this story into 3 parts now, but when I split the story up is something I have to decide. Maybe when stuff gets crazy again? I'm not sure… but we'll see. And I've almost reached about 20 chapters, with more on the way, so expect more of this OC story!**

 **And I'm currently looking for a new job right now, so if I'm not posting anything for a while again that'll be why. I got preoccupied writing up my resume and stupid stuff like that. I mean, I do have a job and all, but I'm tired of it and want something different. Plus, I need to find a 'career' and all that sort of crap since, heck, I got a bachelor's degree. Might as well try to go forward in the various fields that are now presented to me.**

 **I think that's about it. Maybe I'll post more chapters, probably not yet. Maybe tomorrow… we'll see. SEE Y'AH! And ENJOY!**

! #$%^&*()

"Rickie!" you exclaimed as you slammed into the guy's hip, causing the dark brown haired man to snort in annoyance and roughly grip you by the shoulders.

"H-hey! Don't make a scene here –"

"Are you alright? Where does it hurt?" you asked, suddenly stepping around him to investigate his back, causing the man to try to turn to look at you, but it looked like he was trying to chase his own behind as you tried to stare at his back.

"I'm fine kid –"

"Mar – I mean Frank said that you were injured. Where, where?" you asked, grabbing the back of his shirt to attempt to pin him still.

"By the legends, did you eat a bunch of candy or something?" he huffed, grabbing you by your collar and causing you to yelp in surprise, a grin appearing on your face as he raised an eyebrow at you, before pulling you to stand in front of him, instead of behind him.

"Only stole a candy bar or two," you grinned mischievously, and he sighed, noticing a group of Rocket grunts were now staring at them, intrigued by the scene or snickering at you in particular, and Rickie grumbled underneath his breath as he began to lead you to the food.

"I can tell –"

"When did you show up? I'm _soooooooooo~ bored_!" you exclaimed, and he rolled his eyes at your words.

"I can see that. Last night. Just woke up –"

"Is Frank with you?" you decided to ask, glancing behind you, and Rickie couldn't help but snort at your question.

"No, but he may show up eventually… Why are you still here?" he couldn't help but ask you in a suspicious tone, but you gave him a nervous smirk in response.

"I-I'll tell y'ah. Just get some food and join me," you smirked slyly, but he could tell you were nervous to explain everything to him as you turned and made your way back to your seat, with all the eyes in the cafeteria now glancing between you and him.

You waited patiently for Rickie to come back, your eyes following him indifferently as you continued to eat your meal, fairly hungry and wondering what you were going to say. Marko and Cedric know nothing. Not really. Should you be honest or lie?

You waited for him to sit down to start digging into his meal like a starving houndoom, and you didn't utter a word until he asked, "So… what's going on with you? Marko didn't say much, except that you have some grandpa here in Team Rocket? Is he making you stay or something?"

"Not making me. I voluntarily made the choice," you told him, before letting out a sigh and running a hand through your long hair, tugging out the ponytail that you tied up so you could eat, and letting your hair flop around your face as you thought about the right words to say. "… If I tell you, you need to promise me not to utter this to others. I honestly don't know what people know around here, and I'd rather be discrete."

"Okay," he answered, eyeing you suspiciously as you leaned away from your food to lean back in your chair, and sigh to yourself as you closed your eyes and looked back on everything leading up to this point.

"… I'll be honest with you. In my wildest dreams, I don't think I could imagine this shit up, but it happened, so… I guess I'll be honest." You slumped your elbows onto the table, leaning your head into your hands as you stared deeply into Rickie's eyes, studying his reactions carefully. "I'll be blunt.

"I'm a Rosso. Giovanni Rosso is my grandfather," you told him, softly so no one could easily overhear, but stern enough that you showed that you weren't lying or being sarcastic in the slightest.

You watched as the stern, irritated look on Rickie's face slowly morphed into one of realization… and horror. He looked at you with wide, shocked eyes as you pouted and looked away from him, annoyed that he'd see you any differently then what you already are. "The entire time… my parents lied. My grandfather wasn't actually dead. I just wasn't allowed to see him, ever. Why? Probably because he's the mob boss of an international crime syndicate, hellbent on taking over the world and making a profit.

"… But… I don't know. It's a bit odd, all of this. Like I'm being a bit too hopeful. That everything is just going to go horribly wrong, again. There's some that expect me to be his heir. To be the next boss and are training me for that sole purpose. Others, think I'm just a snot nose kid who is butting into too much of their business. That I'm taking too much time away from their precious Boss.

"And then grandpa… doesn't want…" you sighed, running a hand through your bangs as you pouted at the thought. "He may deny it, but he doesn't want me to be here. But now I'm a security risk, like I always assumed. If I stay with some family friend then they could end up killed because of me. I honestly don't want that on my conscience, a-and…

"He doesn't want **me** to be the head. To be dedicated to the team in the slightest. I know why. I can get it, but then again… w-why can't I?" you frowned, your eyes glancing to your food as you looked away, picking at your food with a pout on your face. "Why can't I make the choice here? Adults are so irritating."

"Yes… yes they are," Rickie chuckled nervously before sighing to himself and rubbing the back of his neck. "That… is a lot of information, kid. I honestly thought you were living somewhere nice, with some good people.

"So that guy. With the green aura eyes. He's still after you?"

"Possibly. Probably. I try not to think about it," you pouted, glancing over at him and giving him a curious look. "That's **all**? Just if that ass is still after me? You're not going to question me about my family or something? If it's even a good thing to stay? If I should stay?"

"You seem to have made that decision for yourself. I know you're certainly capable of leaving and being on your own. If you didn't want to be here, you would have left by now," he told you, smirking at you before letting a slight frown appear on his face, "but… that's still a lot to take in."

"I know," you sighed deeply. "Who would have thought my stealth skills are more ingrained into my psyche then I assumed?"

"Nah. You're just a pest, kid," he smirked, a light giggle leaving your breath as he chuckled deeply in response. "So… what have your days been like, anyways? It is really that boring, or are you exaggerating?"

"It's… not actually that bad. I'm being tutored," you told him and he gave you a curious look.

"Oh?"

"Like I'm at a school or something. With homework and assignments and shit like that, but grandpa has also extended where I can roam about in the building, and I have some days off now. So I explore or work on training Spirit. Maybe I can get him to evolve in a few more months?"

"Possibly. But you haven't left the base since you got here?"

"Not for a couple of months, no," you frowned, but you gave him a light smile. "It's not bad, though. I can stand it."

"You? A kid that would insist on running around the city and messing up everyone's day? You've been on your best behavior for **this** long? No wonder you're squirmy," he huffed, and you grinned deviously in response.

" _Well~_ … if you don't have anything to do today we can hang out. Maybe? Can we?"

"I actually have to write up my report, but unless I'm given another mission by the Boss, sure. We can hang out," he smirked at you, causing you to grin happily in response. "But in the afternoon, 'kay?"

"Sure thing. I can't wait!" you happily exclaimed, causing Rickie to chuckle in response. Though, he still couldn't believe this.

That kid. That twerp that always had in his way back in Goldenrod. Who was one of the best stealth masters in the world.

Is the granddaughter to the infamous Giovanni, Boss of Team Rocket.

That… still seems strange, to him, though… maybe it shouldn't be. But he can only conclude where your life is going from here, and he frowned slightly at the thought. Realizing that this kindhearted kid, who always knew the right things to say, and cared about other people and pokemon, is changing. You are changing… into what, though?

No wonder you're so frustrated. Having to decide between what you've been taught and what this team is expecting from a kid. After all, you're a kid, which means you can be easily molded into the perfect ideal mob boss… or at least…

That's what the higher ups probably think, but knowing you, like Rickie does, it'll take way too much effort to mold you into something you're not.

He knows just how hard it is change your mind. Once you make a decision, you stick by it, no matter how horrible the consequences may be.

)(*&^%$# !

"Alright. Let's do this," you smirked at your eevee before you suddenly took off in a run, with your eevee taking off after you.

Every other day, whenever you aren't stuck in some sort of room somewhere doing homework, the first thing you start your training with is a good jog. You've become better at giving Spirit a bit of a challenge as you ran as fast as you could around the large gymnasium.

Today, no one was assigned to use this large gym, and thus, it's closed off for recreational use.

Except that you opened the door with your access card and made sure the doors were locked behind you before you began your practice. You have until six to run around and try some things out, which means you have loads of time to train.

If you really wanted to.

"Can't catch me!" you managed to let out with a pant, but after you managed to speak you noticed your eevee was already passing you, making your feet move a bit quicker, your arms to swing faster, and your legs to feel horribly strained. You panted, trying to breathe through your nose and your mouth, but before you knew it your eevee had passed you completely, though this time you managed to stay foot and paw with him for a few seconds longer.

You managed to run ten laps before feeling a bit winded, and you finished eighteen before collapsing against the benches, breathing heavily as you reached over for your water bottle and greedily consumed the water within your bottle. "Oh… 'kay… good start. Good start," you chuckled, patting Spirit on the head as he walked over to you, after slurping up his own water from a nearby bowl of water, and glancing up at you expectantly as you let yourself take a quick break. "… Okay. What shall we work on today? I was thinking something with you, this time."

"I don't know," he shrugged, scratching the side of his ear with his paw before looking back at you curiously. "Stamina or attacks? Did you finish reading that research article yet?"

"I did. Read a whole bunch of them. About moves and stuff," you smirked, slowly sitting up and sighing to yourself as you reached into your backpack to pull out your notebook and a pen. You easily opened your book to the next blank page, scribbling a couple of words before writing down the date and slipping the pen into the crease, to keep your place in the notebook. "… I mean, you don't have to try them, though. I was just theorizing that, since you have a bunch of evolutionary branches, maybe you can learn some of the moves from each branch?"

"We can certainly try," he smirked, moving closer to you and nuzzling his cheek against your leg tiredly, "or just train."

"Let me grab a training dummy," you told him, rising to your feet as you made your way over to a closed storage room, opening the door and flipping on a nearby light switch so you could see into the room. It took you some effort, but you managed to grab a couple of burlap sacks and slide them across the floor to the center of the room, and then you pried out a large standing dummy, in the shape of a human with a bullseye in the chest, bringing it out into the gym, but not into the center like the sacks.

You stood for a moment, thinking over what you should do, your eyes glancing over at Spirit as he gave you a curious look back. You stepped back to the bleachers, snatching up your notebook, and bringing it with you to the center of the gym. "Okay… So… if we can assume you can learn various moves like your evolutionary counterparts, we should start with basic moves. So, ember, water gun, or thunder shock. We should at least try out those three, first. And if that doesn't work we can just finish off our training with working on your actual attacks.

"You ready?" you asked as you shoved your notebook into the back pocket of your pants, giving your eevee a curious look as he nodded his head, glaring at the sacks with determination on his face. "Great. Once we get started, I'll try training a bit as well.

"Spirit, use ember!" you shouted, pointing to the sacks, but as your eevee let out a coughed up yell, nothing came out of his mouth. No flame, nothing. "… Spirit, use ember!" you shouted again, watching as the same result happened again. "… Use water gun!" you ordered, pointing to the sacks, and when he mewed, trying to release some sort of attack, nothing came out of his mouth, again. "Hmm… Okay. Spirit, use thunder shock!" you shouted, pointing to the sacks, watching as he let out a low growl and grit his teeth, trying to build up some energy and 'shock' the sacks.

But once again, nothing happened.

But it is worth the try. Even if it's for a little while.

"Okay. Again! Spirit, use ember!"

! #$%^&*()

"Swift, let's go!" you shouted as you absentmindedly watched as your eevee jumped into the air, spinning his head and his tail in a deliberate fashion as star-like flashes escaped his body and slammed into the pile of burlap sacks.

However, while he did that, you were spinning on your heel, trying to stay stable, as you yet out a sharp yell and hit the side of your foot into the human training dummy. You stood there for a moment, keeping the position, before returning your foot back down to spin again and slam your other foot into the straw dummy. "Jump higher, Spirit," you told him as you put your foot back down and began to balance between both of your feet, your hands clutched as you glared at the dummy in front of you. "Jump high! Swift, again!" you shouted, and as you finished your sentence you let out a yell, spinning on your feet, on one foot to the other, and slamming your outstretched foot into the dummy.

The two of you had given up on the elemental training, and instead you decided to go back to an eevee's usual set of moves. The stronger an eevee gets, the more moves they are able to learn. Sand attack, tail whip, growl, and tackle. Even before your life went to shit, your eevee knew quick attack, the move, and after a lot of training he's perfected his bite attack.

Maybe with some encouragement his bites can turn into full blown crunch attacks, but for now the two of you just needs to work on polishing your skills.

Swift, a recent move Spirit has learned. So, perfecting the usual move set is your new plan for the rest of the evening, as you had your eevee jump high again and again to use the move.

The two of you know how the two of you operate so well that you know you can leave him to his own devices, while you watch from the other side of the room. You were currently trying to perfect your own techniques. Your feet and legs are one of your best weapons. You're small, but swift and agile. Your sneakiness is top notch. Even your father would say that, for a kid your age. So, after some thought, you realized that you needed to work on your leg work. Sure, you can build up your muscles in your arms, which you're gradually doing like everything else, but your fists aren't as strong as your kicks.

So, a lot of running and leg work for you. Every other day, you train. It's been keeping you relatively sane. If you tire yourself out then you can go back to the apartment space, take a short nap, and feel refreshed, again.

But then again, you still really, really want to go outside.

You just have a feeling you wouldn't be able to, even if you tried to, without being suspected of leaving the base for good.

Eventually you stopped calling attacks, noticing Spirit was panting and slumping down onto his limbs, curling up and letting out a loud yawn. You were both sweaty, but he knew he'd be getting a bathe soon enough, his bright snowy blue eyes watching as you did a roundhouse kick, followed by a forceful, but directed hit into the straw with the sole of your foot.

The two of you were reaching your limits. Spirit hated being stuck in his pokeball all the time, but did understand he was, well, an eevee, a strange colored eevee at that. He could stand being stuck in a pokeball for a while. After all, if he was then he didn't have to eat as frequently as usual. But his big sis… yeah… the two of you were reaching your limits, and it's only a matter of time till you explode for no reason. No real fun, no friends, no entertainment to relieve your stressed out mind.

Spirit wonders if you were forced to try to train him up into a strong, evolved pokemon… or if that's really a decision you made on your own.

As you put your foot down, swinging it down in an elegant manner, you let out deep and tired pants, glancing at a nearby wall clock, before looking over at your exhausted eevee. "Tired?"

"Very," he huffed, and you smirked and stood up in a relaxed manner, wiggling your limbs as you tried to get rid of the stress in your shoulders and the crick in your neck. "… So, Violet."

"Yeah?" you asked curiously as you began to casually walk over to him, slumping down onto the ground with a deep sigh as he glanced at you with a curious look, his head still in his paws.

"Did you **want** to train me or did someone try to convince you to?" he asked in a stern tone, but you smirked and shook your head at him.

"Dummy. Seriously? We should both get stronger, together. Isn't that how we always do things?"

"Sure, but –"

"I'll admit, that Archer guy is pressuring me to evolve you, but… well I guess we should talk about this," you shrugged at him before sighing to yourself, "I'm not pressuring **you** to evolve. I was given the option to take choose an evolutionary stone, but I'm turning it down. Every single time."

"You could have asked me –"

"Yeah. I know. I'm just being stubborn," you smiled lightly at him before huffing underneath your breath. "So… I mean, we both did the research, right? Was there a type of evolution you wanted? Vaporeon, flareon, or jolteon? Leafeon or glaceon? Or espeon, umbreon, or sylveon?" you asked in a curious tone, and he shrugged and slumped his head further onto his sweaty limbs.

"Don't care. Any preferences for you?"

"I mean… I-I don't care if you ever evolve or not. I want you to be happy," you smiled sweetly at the eevee, and he gave you a curious look before smirking to himself and raising his head.

"Good to know," he decided to say, and you nodded as you slowly stood back to your feet.

"I think it's about time we head out. Did you want to train some more or –"

"I'm good. Very good."

"I think your swift attack is starting to fully appear, now. It just needs some work," you smiled at him, and he groaned in response, but watched with a calm expression on his face as he watched your tiny human figure push the training dummy back towards the closet, knowing that he should just let you be. You're going through a lot, right now, and all he can really do is be there to support you.

You're a good egg. He doesn't want to see you fail, but succeed, and if he can be helpful in some way, then he's willing to do so.

After all… you saved him, and there's nothing in the world he can do to repay you.

Except, well… giving up absolutely everything, just to ensure your own survival.

But he knows, deep down, you'd never want that to happen. Even if he had to, you wouldn't be able to live with yourself, which brings a light smile to his face as he slumped his head into his paws, closing his eyes as he let his ears do the looking for him, searching just in case someone were to come by and try to walk into this gymnasium.


End file.
